Interacting with Pictures
I’m so excited about this week. You have all worked so hard and you’ve pushed back on the strong tendency to hang out in confusion and overwhelm. You have taken action and you are making progress!
📸 📲 Now, we are going to practice some intentional interaction. Start by watching the video and then print and read through the handout. There are so many wonderful ways to sort, store, find and share pictures and I can’t wait for you to dive in. As you have time and bandwidth please continue working with your prints and digital images—don’t forget: We have ALL year!
➡️ Week 4 Tasks …
Select 2 of the 4 sorting exercises and carry them out. Temporarily save your collections in a folder/album in your photo management application.
Thoughtfully and thoroughly answer all 4 of the finding questions.
Choose 3 of the sharing activities and see them through!
“Memory tempers prosperity, mitigates adversity,
controls youth, and delights old age. ”
Sorting 🧦
Sorting is powerful interaction because as we “move” images around and group them in a variety of ways we are able to more easily see what’s the same and what’s different and where the patterns are that create connection. When we create a slice-of-life view, we are often able to compare and contrast and more fully understand and celebrate the little details that are easy to miss AND the overarching lessons or values that guide our story. NOTE: With digital images and folders/albums we don’t really move images, we just get to view them in new ways. This week you’ll choose 2 of 4 sorting exercises to try.
Storing 🧺
What if we viewed ALL of these pictures that represent our lives like an investment portfolio—a collection of assets that need protection, but also growth and use and enjoyment. This week I want you to consider the ways you are diversifying your storage of pictures and memories. Do we need back-up? Of course. But please remember the wonderfully accessible storage that your completed scrapbooks, printed photobooks and family histories are! If you’re curious about a type of storage you haven’t considered before, do some exploring.
Finding 🔦
Think how FUN it is to find something you’ve been searching for. When we know how to find the detailed memories that make for compelling stories then this work is so much more rewarding. Modern science is learning that certain triggers activate associated memories about related things. For example, thinking about a particular building on a college campus might trigger memories of attending classes, studying, socializing with peers and even details about conversations OR the items you carried and unpacked from your backpack. Let’s shine some light on the ways YOU would like to find, combine and present your pictures (and associated memories!)
Sharing 📗
For many years access to photography and pictures was limited and therefore methods of sharing were pretty straightforward. If you could afford pictures, you put them in chronological order in a “scrap book.” Today our options for sharing and enjoying and communicating with images are many and exciting. This week you’ll choose 3 of 12 ideas to try.
Printable Handouts 🖨
The concept of true north is that of a fixed, immovable target and direction. A true north is derived from values and principles. In this class, our true north is story.
In all of our efforts to downsize and organize, remember that we are developing skills of a storyteller!
Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash
click to enlarge
✳️ I recently created a scrapbook page that makes me SO happy. It features a FAVORITE image, memorabilia (including hair I clipped and saved) and a super-cool connection in my son’s life. I even added a QR code that links to a video.
I can put my hands on all of these disparate pieces because of my system. I can tell these kinds of stories because I have learned how to interact with pictures and turn them into stories!
