I was born at the right time. It’s not perfect, but I have the privilege of living inside of a world where I can record and relive memories using a tiny device inside my pocket. Whenever I do anything with friends and family, I’m almost always on my phone. Not because I’m bored, but because I want to capture the moment.

I wish I was more skilled in videography and photography to better share my experiences with others. Some nights I do nothing but look over my camera roll, just to escape reality for a while and relive the moments when I was happiest. My favorite photos and videos aren’t from grand vacations, they’re casual evening strolls around the neighborhood with my friends. They’re pictures of us just goofing around at an outlet or mall. Those are the memories I can most easily put myself into, and that bring the most joy. 

Pictures like those keep my head up during tough times. I know that, eventually, I’ll get to the point where I can live out moments like those again. Life may suck sometimes but my camera roll often reminds me that the people I surround myself around make it so worth living. Without them, these pictures would be literally and figuratively hollow. I don’t just hog these pictures to myself either. I usually share them with whoever was involved, in hopes that they’ll save them and get to relive those memories too.

Life is constantly changing, so I try to capture my “normal” life. Pictures like my family eating breakfast in the morning, or my friends hanging out after school. I know I’ll look back on those photos and videos and think “wow, life was completely different back then,” even if day-by-day it feels like nothing is changing. 

The advent of cloud computing has made it so that these memories are hopefully there forever. My kids, grand kids, and further on will have an idea of my daily life, who I’m around, etc. It feels like these photos and videos will allow them to be put into my shoes, long after I’m gone. I’m so thankful for being able to live into a world where this is just beginning to become possible. I hope to pass this tradition on to anyone who’s interested. It’s incredible to me that the ability to keep and share these precious memories is essentially free.