Picture This

It is tempting to look back at the "way things were" and want to go back to a "simpler time."   Now think about that.  How often have you heard others (and maybe yourself) use those phrases.  I am not saying that we should not reflect positively on our past.  I am also NOT saying that we can't learn a lesson or two from looking at the past.

I actually agree that there are many things that we've made far more complicated than it needs to be - all in the interest of "modernization" or "moving society forward" or whatever other generic saying we use as an excuse to change how things are done.  I do tend to think we could benefit from finding a balance with doing some things the "old way" just to slow life down a bit so it isn't such a blur!

That said, let me reflect on something that has become much easier to do in recent years that would not have even been an option even a decade ago.

Tammy and I have enjoyed taking pictures of some of the beautiful places in the world we have been fortunate enough to visit.  THAT is the first thing I wanted to point out.  The event of digital cameras has opened up the door for any number of amateurs to try their hand at capturing the beauty of this world.

As a quick reminder, taking pictures with an iPhone wasn't possible until 2007.  Digital cameras that cost less than $1000 weren't available until somewhere around 2005.  Up until that point, if you wanted to take your own pictures, you would use cameras with film - and film cost money - and it cost money to develop that film.

None of this encouraged people to just take pictures because they felt creative or just wanted to.

And then, let's say you really liked one of your photos and had this wild idea that it would look good on a wall of your house or office.  Well, that was a bit of a reach for most people in the world.  Of course it was doable.  But, it was pretty much limited to the subset of people in the world who were professionals, dedicated hobbyists or someone with extra money to burn (and who knew a professional or dedicated hobbyist).

This brings me to the present day.  Not only do most people have a reasonably good camera that is part of their phone, many have digital cameras that can take pictures with very high resolution - good enough to blow that picture up to a 20" x 30" size without the details getting pixelated (blurred).

And, we have services that provide us with the opportunity to make wall art for ourselves with our own pictures without breaking the bank.  In terms of time, this has not been readily available for all that long.  In terms of importance, this is probably not the most important thing in the world either.

Yet, it is a thing that does provide people with a new opportunity to exercise creativity and decorate the spaces we reside in.  There is value in this, and I would miss it if we were to suddenly roll back the clock to the simpler time in history that we sometimes wish we could return to.

Maybe a better solution is to find ways to slow ourselves down now, so this will also be a time we look back on with fondness.  One of our approaches is to select favorite pictures of favorite places and putting them on our walls so we can stare at them for a bit - and enjoy the beauty.