Remember the Little Things Through Photography
Have you spent time documenting the "little things" of your host country? What is your favorite way to remember the beautiful ordinary?
Guest article written by Janet Phillips
It’s easy to take for granted the things we see every day. The places we go and the things we do don’t always seem very noteworthy or in need of a photograph. The grocery store, the hole-in-the-wall (often literal!) restaurant you love, the take out menus that make “those” days overseas a bit easier to handle...these things are such a big part of our lives and yet because they are so common, we often don’t notice them. Our brains are wired to recognize and appreciate what is new and novel and to conserve energy by ignoring all that is not new.
However, as we expats know, everything that is familiar can be gone instantly. Your favorite restaurant was open today but will close its doors forever tomorrow.
Your children’s best friends hop on a plane and your six month goodbye turns into forever. You plan to return to the same house after furlough, but the visas don’t come through. Though it is true for most people, that our lives are unpredictable, it is ever so much more true for expats. Businesses come and go, just as do friends, jobs, vacation spots, and our plans for the future.
You need to take the time now to appreciate and remember the little things that make up this big life you lead. Photos are my preferred way to remember, but journaling, blogging, and other forms of memory keeping are beneficial as well. You never know when what has “always been” will be gone. Remember it today.
Our family has lived in three different Asian countries in the last fifteen years. Each location has been unique, special, and a deeply loved place in our lives. We welcomed children into our lives in each of those countries, we made friends from all over the world, and we gave our time and energy to the beautiful hosts of each place we have called home.
Attempting to be intentional about remembering, we have worked hard to photograph the little things that made up our life. And now that we are back in America, preparing for yet another move to another place, I am so thankful for the photographs I have of all my homes. The little things worked their way into my heart and when I left, I had to leave the surrounding part of my heart with them. But I have my pictures and my memories. And for that, I am ever grateful.
When you get on that plane to go “home,” you can think of little else than the long cereal aisles in America or the silence in the early morning air instead of speakers blaring the early morning prayer. But as you look toward what is good in your home country, it is easy forget all of the good that your host country has offered you. Take time to remember it, to let it soak in, to chronicle it. Today could be your last day in that land. Will you have things to remember it by?
Here are some ideas of things to photograph:
Grocery store
convenience store (or “store” if it is a makeshift tent!)
most used forms of transportation
doctor/hospital
favorite restaurant(s)
house helper(s)
teacher/homeschool area
household “pets” (both invited and uninvited!)
walking routes
driving routes
favorite foods
airport
host country workers
host country kids
products you or your kids love but you can’t buy in your home country
each room in your home
Have you spent time documenting the "little things" of your host country? What is your favorite way to remember the beautiful ordinary?
Janet Phillips is the happy mama to six little blonde-haired people and wife to one fun P.E. teacher. Her family has lived in India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They are currently enjoying yummy food and lost of camping in America, but they look forward to returning to the other side of the world.