It seems to me that certain images or memories are like sticky notes in my head. Something like an old car or brand of chewing gum can trigger thoughts from years gone by. (Some remind us of events we experienced or relationships we enjoyed along life’s way.) What is important now, and what was important at that point in time can be vastly different. But, still there they are sticky notes in your head! Those little sticky notes are not always bad or good. They are just there, and they remind us of something we once experienced. Our memories are like a series of photos and sticky notes that have been animated into a collection of short films that we can access on demand.
Luke 2:51-52 (When Jesus was a young 12-year-old boy an incident happened that caused Mary his mother to create a sticky note of the moment.) … but his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
What mother does not hide multitudes of snapshots and sticky notes of their children from birth upward. As Jesus was on the cross looking down, he saw his mother, and she was still “keeping all these things in her heart.” John 19:25-27…”Woman behold your son”. Jesus assigned John to care for his mother. Sticky note moments are hidden in the head and heart. Mary later saw her Son after he had risen, and after that, she was present in the upper room when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Lots of sticky notes!
For 30 plus years I have been a professional photographer. I have created many photos for clients that captured moments in their lives and preserved them for later reflection. I carefully crafted visual sticky notes for my clients designed to assist their heads and hearts remember more clearly those special moments in times and events that were meaningful.
What kind of sticky notes are in your head?
Will you still be able to access them with clarity 20 years from now? Mary’s story is recorded in the Bible; someone wrote it down! My clients have photographs; someone hired me! Sticky notes have only one really bad characteristic: they fall off! The sticky with age gives way, and the note is often lost. Make sure you do something to keep those sticky notes hanging around as long as you can!
Just an old school photographer’s opinion, but I still think prints and albums are much greater than a hard drive that will fail and must be accessed before the images can be seen.
Fred Hughes, M. Photog.
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