Life is Worth Documenting

For a long time now, I’ve come to realize that society has a way of shaping our perceptions or attitudes towards life. It also pushes us to adopt lifestyles that may not naturally appeal to us.

For example, our society teaches us to hide our pain from the world, and when we go against it, we might realize that we’re being mocked with the struggles we shared. This subconsciously feeds into our minds negatively and makes us refrain from doing that. I too am a victim of this.

I went from being the young girl who respectfully took pictures of anything and everything I found worth keeping, sharing them online, to being the girl who would stay six months without thinking of taking a single photo.

I stopped featuring in group pictures too for fear of being judged for my looks, even though nobody would’ve known I was suffering mentally and emotionally. I believe I could have simply kept my memories for myself, but the thought of someone seeing them on my phone was mind-boggling, so that made it easier to stay without photos.

Image from unsplash

Fortunately, last year, I met an amazing acquaintance, now turned friend, who made me see things differently. They believed so much in documenting our lives, not for the public, but for ourselves, and I saw how important it was again to preserve my memories.

So I began to see my camera roll as my visual diary that is deserving of having all the chapters of my life, a place I can always go to when I need to remember a feeling or reference something that is slowly waning from my memory.

In my gallery, you will find photos of my beloved friends, my family, and some cute and hilarious conversations that has happened with these people, which all proves how much I value community. I would always want to be found with the right people because, in such an insensitive world, having your people is truly one of the things that can keep you going.

In my gallery, you will also find proof of the work that I do, from dealing with patient samples at the lab to creating content for the agency that I’m interning with and baking, which I’ve set out to explore this year.

Seeing all of these when I feel like I’m not doing enough helps serve as a reminder of the resilient, curious and hardworking woman that I am, and I am instantly motivated.

Image from unsplash

Something else you will also find in my camera roll is photos/videos of food and the gifts I have gotten for myself and from others. I love to eat. I love good food, and even though I do not have a very huge appetite, you can never make me hate food. So when I get good food, I take pictures of them for keepsake, and the gifts help remind me that I’ve been loved by the best.

I think the last thing you would find is screenshots of many feminist quotes that inspire me and remind me of how important and powerful I am as a woman, beautiful photos of nature, and videos of me in different states, feeling different emotions. You’ll find the happy, sad, confused and surprised Yechee. And this has been proof that seasons will always pass and life is truly a cycle of emotions transcending from one moment to the other.

So these days, I look at my gallery with so much love, and I bet if someone went through it, they would learn about my tenacity and strong will towards life, my love for standing by women’s rights, my desire for a more connected community of friends and family, and of course, the whimsical me who grins at the beautiful, magical, childish things that make the world saner.

Most importantly, I hope that my life continues to be a reflection of a pure heart that tarries through seasons, one who lives with zero shame of her identity, but with fullness of joy till the end of her days.

I appreciate you @priyanac for suggesting such a lovely prompt last week for the LOH community. You remain deeply admired.🤗

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VISITING MY BLOG!💐