The Value of Time

By Katrina Michell

FEAR. It can paralyze us and prevent us from doing so many things. It’s that voice in the back of our heads that tells us, we are not good enough, smart enough or attractive enough. It’s that sinking feeling in the pit of our stomach as we embark on a new adventure that wants us to turn back. Even as I’m writing this, I’m scared of what people might think.

LOVE. It surrounds us in so many little ways. It’s the words of encouragement from friends and family. It’s the hug you receive when you walk in the door at night. It’s the memories that we have of the great events and people in our lives. It is what is pushing me to share this experience with you.

Let me start with a little background. I come from a great home with two very loving parents and three fantastic siblings. I was painfully shy growing up, so when I was nine and my parents decided to put us in karate, I was very unsure. As it turned out, this was a great decision. It helped to build my self-confidence and over time pushed me to overcome most of my shyness. It remains a big part of my life today. It also introduced me to someone who would turn out to be one of the greatest influences in my life.

Pete was my first karate instructor and over the next eighteen years, we became very good friends. He was a great mentor, father figure and someone whom I feel very lucky to have had in my life. Two years ago, Pete passed away after a three year battle with cancer. This is when I truly learned the value of “today” and how important it is to cherish it. In all the years that I knew him; I have exactly three photographs of the two of us together. They are all from recent years and there is nothing from when I was a child.

I don’t believe in regret, but I regret this. I have lost a significant portion of my history, all because like most people, I didn’t like to have my photograph taken. This is most ironic, as I now make my living as a professional photographer.

My job is to capture the love in a family, freeze a moment in time, help people preserve some of today for tomorrow. I wish that I had applied this viewpoint to my own life sooner. So many lost opportunities because I was scared that I wouldn’t look good, that I would be seen as conceited or that no one would want to see them anyway. I let the fears that I had take over.

I think, too often, we stop ourselves from doing something because we are scared of what others might think or what we might look like or that we are having a bad hair day. In the grand scheme of things, this is really not important. What is important is how we touch the lives of those close to us, what we do with our time and knowing that we do make a big impact on others, even if we don’t see it. We will all be missed when we are gone.

I now get yearly family portraits taken and yes, my family fights me on it. I also try to take my camera out with me in my everyday life. It’s been a challenge to change my habits, but I am getting more comfortable with it. I try to remember how important these moments are to me. They are a record of my life and I am capturing all the wonderful things that happen in it. I also try to remember how important these memories will be to my loved ones when I’m gone, a record of me having been here.

Here are a few thoughts to leave you with:

1 – Photograph often. Take your camera to parties, out on family outings; pull it out on a lazy Sunday just because you can! Record your life. It will be uncomfortable to start with, but it will get easier and your family will be grateful later. Think of them as a record of you having been here. The photographs you take today may also be of great significance to future generations as they research family history and investigate the roots they came from. Imagine if your great-great-great-great grandchild could see that they have your eyes!

2 – Sort your photographs on a regular basis and preserve them in archival albums or frames. Start an album for your child that is solely dedicated to him or her and his or her accomplishments, milestones and amazing little life! Leave a family album out on the coffee table. It’s great to flip through on a wet, rainy day to relive some fun moments in your life.

3 – Decorate your home with photographs of your loved ones. So many of us decorate with beautiful pieces of scenic art done by someone we don’t know. What is more beautiful than the smiling faces of your loved ones? It brings a level of comfort to your house that makes it a home.

4 – Inevitably, there is always someone who likes to take all the photographs and never ends up in any of them. They will need to be prodded a little but don’t forget to make sure they join in the fun because in the end it is worth it!

5 – Consider a professional portrait every once in a while. There are plenty of options out there and they no longer have to be “stuffy and formal”. They are a great way to capture the love and relationships in your family from a different perspective. It’s also a great way to get those that are always behind the camera, out in front of it.