What day is today? 🙏

Sometimes I used to wonder, why we have created so many days like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Children’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Siblings Day, Grandparents Day, this day, that day… ! But have you ever reflected a day or a festival or something which you regularly look forward to, every year? It may be your own birthday or the big day of someone who is very close to your heart. Try to think of that day, what do you recall?

When I try to reflect upon past anniversaries of such days, I’m surprised to see how distinctly I can recall several years from my forgetful memory and recollect how this day was spent several years back! It occurred to me that these calendar dates which have some special meanings unconsciously create indelible memories in our life. We cherish those memories while looking back to the time we had spent in our lives.

Memories often mark our growth as an individual over time. Sometime its funny to see how we ourselves used to behave, think or act in past and what changes maturity had brought in ourselves now. But how about creating memories consciously?

Well, most of us always have a camera in our pocket these days and we love taking pictures every now and then. Although I’m in the process of cultivating the habit of taking frequent photographs, I still don’t take my own photos. But the photos in which we too are present, create more relatable and better memories of our life. Unfortunately, most of the photographs we take are carelessly deleted or stocked somewhere, where they are difficult to access for us.

Just like we write a daily diary, we need to arrange all our digital pictures in files that are searchable by date. So when we have tons of pictures, still we can easily search according to the day or month of a year.

This Father’s Day, I recall a Ted talk delivered by a photographer called Steven Addis who had inspired many people to create conscious memories by taking photographs with their child.

Steven and his daughter used to pose for a photograph every year at a same spot in New York. He did this regularly for 15 years …and may be later too (as he was continuously following this ritual until this talk in 2012).

Do check this 3 minute Ted video to watch his story in his own words.

On this Father’s Day, I dedicate this post to Steven Addis for fostering this beautiful father-daughter bonding. I feel, this one-photo-a-year ritual is the easiest step to strengthen Father-child bond.

• What does Father's Day means to you?
• Do you cherish your past memories?
• Do photographs play an important role in creating memories?

I'd be waiting to hear from you.