Humans have forever attempted to hold on to images. Hell, the major point at which we distinguish modern man from earlier iterations is art. So, on the one hand, we struggle with the fact that we misplace and can't completely replicate our memories. While, on the other hand, we slowly creep towards having the ability to never lose memories. I've done enough living to know that for many people the healthiest thing you can do is to step away from stress and take a moment. Sometimes we really do have to forget, actively, in order to forgive.
I love the flexibility and amazing technology that we have. I also wonder what it is doing to my brain. In the past, I could just put some pictures in a box and shove it away. Now I have to live with them in my face. In some ways this forces you to really get over things, but in others its just tortuous. I guess at the end of the day the lesson learned is to only take great pictures, otherwise what's the point?
I've read articles about how individuals decided to get drunk and meticulously delete photos of themselves and their Ex like a digital cleaner. This is not what I wanted. So I've just set the stuff aside. I'm not going to start dating soon, so I don't care that my profile is filled with pictures of some unnamed woman. I don't look at them, so they are just relics. The thing I struggle with is the choosing. There were some great pictures, and actually some pretty great times. I don't want to carpet bomb an era of my life because the result wasn't magical. I've always been a journey versus destination kind of guy.
Pictures and videos of the past are peculiar ghosts. As a human you have your memory and your feelings. Once you no longer have a moment in your re-callable memory and you eyeball a picture, the deep innards of your brain somehow rekindle the memory. I've looked at pictures and been able to remember moments that otherwise were locked away. Pictures also recall emotions. I've looked at pictures of Exes, and the way I remembered them versus the way that I see them in the present staring at their picture is very different. If I were to think of past relationships and people, I usually think in glowing terms. But, when I see some pictures I just see a person, just like anyone else. I see their flaws, I see my flaws, images in a frame no longer so inspired.
Pictures have this great power about them to jump-start memories. So what about when you are done with the memories? What about when you want to move on? Is it disingenuous to click a button and have the hard-drive demagnetize and lose the MB forever? Your life is lived and ultimately resides in your brain. The modern world adds new features, such as the ability to communicate over invisible radio waves, and keep snapshots and audio of moments perfectly as a third unemotional party. I personally struggle with the creep of technology and genuine human nature.
Mostly the hard part is seeing moments where my smile was forced or where there was no smile on my Ex's face. These are like the cookie crumbs dropped on the trail that you can follow to the eventual demise of the relationship. Life is hard, and you get hurt, and you hurt others. However, without all that mess we really wouldn't learn. I was a silly person. I believed that the story and the origins of my relationship made it sooo special that the obvious day-to-day communication breakdowns and incompatibilities over what the future should look like were ignored.
So the ethic of the tale is that the past is a trainer. There were miserable moments and gorgeous ones, communication that never made sense, and moods that never seemed to align. We walked bravely and tried our best. This is why I still have pictures of my Ex.
I love the flexibility and amazing technology that we have. I also wonder what it is doing to my brain. In the past, I could just put some pictures in a box and shove it away. Now I have to live with them in my face. In some ways this forces you to really get over things, but in others its just tortuous. I guess at the end of the day the lesson learned is to only take great pictures, otherwise what's the point?
I've read articles about how individuals decided to get drunk and meticulously delete photos of themselves and their Ex like a digital cleaner. This is not what I wanted. So I've just set the stuff aside. I'm not going to start dating soon, so I don't care that my profile is filled with pictures of some unnamed woman. I don't look at them, so they are just relics. The thing I struggle with is the choosing. There were some great pictures, and actually some pretty great times. I don't want to carpet bomb an era of my life because the result wasn't magical. I've always been a journey versus destination kind of guy.
Pictures and videos of the past are peculiar ghosts. As a human you have your memory and your feelings. Once you no longer have a moment in your re-callable memory and you eyeball a picture, the deep innards of your brain somehow rekindle the memory. I've looked at pictures and been able to remember moments that otherwise were locked away. Pictures also recall emotions. I've looked at pictures of Exes, and the way I remembered them versus the way that I see them in the present staring at their picture is very different. If I were to think of past relationships and people, I usually think in glowing terms. But, when I see some pictures I just see a person, just like anyone else. I see their flaws, I see my flaws, images in a frame no longer so inspired.
Pictures have this great power about them to jump-start memories. So what about when you are done with the memories? What about when you want to move on? Is it disingenuous to click a button and have the hard-drive demagnetize and lose the MB forever? Your life is lived and ultimately resides in your brain. The modern world adds new features, such as the ability to communicate over invisible radio waves, and keep snapshots and audio of moments perfectly as a third unemotional party. I personally struggle with the creep of technology and genuine human nature.
Mostly the hard part is seeing moments where my smile was forced or where there was no smile on my Ex's face. These are like the cookie crumbs dropped on the trail that you can follow to the eventual demise of the relationship. Life is hard, and you get hurt, and you hurt others. However, without all that mess we really wouldn't learn. I was a silly person. I believed that the story and the origins of my relationship made it sooo special that the obvious day-to-day communication breakdowns and incompatibilities over what the future should look like were ignored.
So the ethic of the tale is that the past is a trainer. There were miserable moments and gorgeous ones, communication that never made sense, and moods that never seemed to align. We walked bravely and tried our best. This is why I still have pictures of my Ex.
