The Happy Album

Every year at Christmas, my sister gifts my parents a calendar full of photos from the year prior. She matches up the months, so when you flip to February there are photos of my nieces and nephew sledding, in June there are photos from the previous year’s beach trip, etc. It’s meant for my parents, but it’s hands down everyone’s favorite Christmas gift. 

Whenever I come home to visit, one of the first things I do is take the calendar off the fridge and flip back through it. It’s fun to see pictures from anything I missed throughout the year, and I love reminiscing on the memories I was lucky enough to part of. Photographs have that mysterious ability to transport us right back to the moment they were taken. 

Creating a yearly calendar is an audacious goal, but I think we all know how much happiness looking back at old photo albums brings. Luckily, these days we have the power to carry entire albums in our phones, and I think we could all do a better job of taking advantage of that. 

Rasta joined me for a post-half marathon beer. This picture always makes me smile.

Here’s my homework to you: create a photo album, either physical or on your phone, with a bunch of pictures that make you happy. There doesn’t have to be a specific timeline or event - in fact, I think it’s a lot more fun to make a montage of moments over the years that make you smile. It can be 10 pictures or 100. The point is simply to be able to pull out your Happy Album whenever you’re feeling blue and remind yourself of all the precious moments and people that make up a lifetime. 

There were a LOT of smiles involved in the making of my Happy Album. One thing I noticed - the more oddball a picture was, the more joy it brought me. The posed pictures are wonderful and you need them, but a good chunk of my album was dedicated to the ridiculous outtakes that made me laugh and the precious moments that I was able to sneakily snap a photo of. It was a good reminder to take more candids.

Sneaking an adorable photo of my mom and niece

If you have a chance this week, make your own Happy Album. And if you want to make my day, send me one of your outtakes. 

Wishing you a week of candid moments ❤️