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| Check out all those flower crowns! |
Hi friends. This is a topic I’ve been rolling over in my mind for quite some time, settling on one side of this battle before flipping it over and trying out the other. If you read the title then you know I’m referring to blogging vs. living, or in a broader sense documenting the moment or living it. If you know me in real life then I’ve probably had this conversation with you at least once, coaxed an opinion out of you and shared mine with you.
The thing is, for me personally, I have a faulty memory. I find it very difficult to remember childhood details, and at this point high school is a blur to me, even college is beginning to fade. It always helps when you have someone else’s mind to corroborate your memories with, together you can piece the puzzle of what it was like to be a 6th grader together. But the best memory aide has always been photos, and even more accurate (and less forgiving) videos.
So this places me quite squarely on the documenting side of the argument, but I can see the value of experiencing moments without a camera (or now, an iPhone) in your hand. When viewing the world through a small digital viewfinder, there are jokes, nuances, and stories that are sure to be missed.
I’ve pretty much come to terms with the fact that my photos will be my memories in a few years’ time, but recording and photographing moments has never been my problem. It is taking the time to comb through the 200 photos I took on a given day, and choosing the best 10. Or editing 5 days worth of vacation video into a digestible 2-minute clip. Then comes re-sizing, uploading, and publishing them to the appropriate online platform (blog, Facebook, my blog’s Facebook, and don’t even get me started with Instagram).
Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t, but I have been posting with less frequency on Fuji Files (though you can still find me regularly on CamilleStyles and coco+kelley). You could say I’ve been trying out a little more living in exchange for less blogging. As with all things I think we can all agree that balance is ideal. But balance takes work, for such an unassuming, two-syllable word it takes considerably more work than I think anyone gives it credit for. But that is for another day. For now, I just wanted to let you know that I’m working on it. See photos above.
This was Eeyore’s Birthday Party, “it was named for Eeyore, a chronically depressed donkey in A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories who, in one story, believes his friends have forgotten his birthday only to discover they have planned a surprise party for him.“Sound weird? Well it is, I probably should have mentioned that I live in Austin, and the birthday party is an annual tradition in Austin’s hippie sub-culture. Think drum circles, costumes, glitter and birthday cake.
As a demonstration of everything I have just written, I thought it would be appropriate to share these photos of me, living, taking pictures, and not editing the photos until 3 months later.
I’d also love to know if any of you deal with blogging vs. living, and if you have any advice for a fellow blogger.
shoesandshelter 