May 10, 2011

Thoughts On The Presents of My Absence . . .

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It’s bugging me a little that I’m not in any pictures. And by a little, I mean enough for me to get out the tripod and snap a photo of myself making cookies. Actually, this is a picture of me sifting my sugar so that I can make cookies without lumps. Dang you, Humid Virginia!

I really want my kids to know someday that the reason I’m not in the pictures isn’t just because I was always the behind the camera.  It’s also because I was doing things like making them cookies and folding their laundry and making their dinner and running their brother to baseball practice. Again.

I hope they understand that I wanted to capture the moments they had together with each other and with their daddy and that sometimes cataloguing those cherished memories for forever meant I had to step out from being in the moment to being the spectator of the moment.

I hope they realize that being the one behind the lens isn’t so bad. I have experienced so much joy as I’ve {sometimes silently and stealthily} viewed the beautiful, simple and complex workings of my little family from day to day.

I hope when they look at this blog and their photo albums, they realize that the gift of my absence from the photographs is that I’m recording their history as it plays out in front of me. Me not in photographs is actually a gift of sorts.

Still, since I am bugged by the fact that I’m not in any of the pictures, I’ve decided to take this gal’s approach to getting in more of her own photographs.  I promise, good or bad hair day, you’ll be seeing a little bit more of me around here.

4 comments:

Apis Melliflora said...

I understand where you're coming from. I've now made it a point to ask the hubby to take some of the pictures as well. {So that my kids know that I was there having fun with them as well.}

Yum on the cookies!

Meaja said...

Sam, have you ever tried a clean or new piece of terra cotta pot in your sugar. They help with fight humidity in all sugars. You can find some specially made for this purpose in kitchen stores.

The Queen Vee said...

What a great idea Meaja.

DF, looking forwardto more pics of you.

Aiketa said...

Thank you for that good read Samantha. These two post reafirmed my decision on taking pictures and making a memory for me or my children one day.
My mom never liked taking nor being in photos. So I have few of my childhood but much more less of my mom. I am trying to change that. I try to take as many pictures of my family and me as possible. It's not too late.