I've just spent the last seven weeks traveling; some business, mostly pleasure and visiting family. And I've got a couple hundred photos to show for it. Many will probably be deleted, but many are also treasures that I'll want to put in an album. In the past, I would do well to add a date, the event, and the names of the people in the photos. But now, I write a story, or at least a detailed description of the event or scene.
For instance, I'll describe how it felt to come around a curve on a hiking path in Ireland, only to see the bay and villages spread before me several miles off. We had been hiking in the rain, in soggy fields, cold and wet, but to see that beautiful scene open up before us, made it all worthwhile.
The hot Irish coffee in the pub on the way back to our B&B warmed our souls, as well as our bodies. To just write the date and place next to those photos would be such an injustice. But to tell the story of the day, the weather, the people, the effort involved, those are what will bring the photos to life.
You can do this with older photos too. Especially when you're having trouble thinking of topics to write about, just go through your photos, old or recent, and choose a few that bring back good memories. Then write a story about the time, place, people, event, and especially your reactions to it all. You'll be surprised at the memories that will come flooding back as you look through the photos of your life. And you'll enjoy writing those stories!
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