One of the (many) good things about Hive, is it encourages me to look back through older photos from time to time and see if there is anything suitable to use for a particular article or, to inspire me in some way. It is rewarding, as it brings up those old memories and I think I have a higher appreciation for the various travels.
This one is from the flower market in Amsterdam.
I believe that photos have "lost their value" for the most part, because we take so many of them, even when there is nothing much going on. In the past, a photo opportunity had to be worthy enough for the effort and cost, but as the cost came down, the frequency went up until now people can't do anything without taking a photo of it. And while they used to be for memory's sake, now taking a photo is like a default action, almost thoughtless. And the vast majority of the photos taken will *never be looked at again. They will just sit there, taking up a few bytes of space, until the next phone change, a mass delete, or a crash wipes them all.
Is it a waste to take them?
Probably?
Maybe, maybe not. For me, I tend to think through the photos I take, and I don't mean the composition or the moment. I mean, action of taking the photo itself is part of my thought process, especially now since the stroke. It gives me a chance to slow down, have a proper look at what is happening, and the physical actions stick it all into my memory more firmly. The effort it takes is intentional, and because it takes effort, my brain treats it with a little more seriousness. But I think if it was a default action, it wouldn't have the same impact on my memory, nor would it help me process the moment.
Defaults are rarely valuable.
That is not true.
If the defaults are well designed and implemented so they trigger appropriately to provide the right action at the right time, then they are very valuable indeed. But let's face it, most of us are far less intentional with the habits we build, which is why so many of us have so many bad habits that we would like to get rid of, but don't. Instead, we just keep letting the default trigger fire, keep on doing the same thing, keep on getting results we don't want, and then keep on saying that "I should stop doing that" - but we don't. Because they are defaults.
Imagine if one day there was an app that allowed for habits to be turned on and off with a click. The app could follow us around and audit all of our habits, good and bad, and log them into a list that we could then toggle individual events on and off. Once the list is created, we could have a look at what our goals are, work out what habits move us forward, which back, and which create hurdles, and then clear the behavioural path in front of us.
I think it would be interesting.
And I wonder how we would feel if we were "missing" a particular habit. For instance, I have a habit of snacking late in the evening while I am writing, even though I am not hungry. However, would I feel different in the moment if I didn't snack? Probably not. I might actually feel better, and think better. However, if I turned off the habit of going to the gym five or more times a week, how would I feel?
Of course, while there would be huge benefits to us if all the app did was allow us to turn off bad habits so we did more of the good, we would also want to be able to add habits to our repertoire. For those who don't exercise, they might want to start with three intentional sessions a week. For those who want to eat healthier, add the habit of buying only fresh, healthy food, whilst cutting out the junk.
In the past we used to take photos of the big occasions in our lives, and of the people who are important to us. But the thing is, our lives are actually dictated for the most part by our daily habits. All the little things that we do that we don't tend to focus much attention on. Now, the habit of taking photos is almost as automatic as breathing for some people, but still, all of our daily habits go uninvestigated, unaddressed, and fly under the radar. Yet there they are, each day, making impacts on the potential we hold and direction of our lives.
The habit app doesn't exist unfortunately, so if we want to change our behaviours, for now at least, we are going to have to do it the old fashioned way.
We are going to have to work for it.
Taraz
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