It is often noted that what we see on social media isn’t
reality: that each of us is putting on a brave face and presenting a false
narrative of positivity.
It is true that social media is full of filters (and not simply the ones we use for our photos). We filter our thoughts and our emotions on social media.
Social Media is a public place. I do my very best to treat
it as such. What you see on my Facebook page is (or at least should be) what I
would be comfortable shouting from a street corner. The local passerby may not
care I am excited about the latest sci-fi offering on Amazon or that I got to
hang out with preschoolers and talk about Jesus with a lion puppet (by the way,
I am pretty sure they know the script/routine better than I do now), but I wouldn't be embarrassed for the hypothetical passer-by to know that.
But those filters are not there so that you all will think I
am a good person or that I have it all together. I do that for myself. I do my
very best to create a place where I can look back and see the good things that
I do have. I can look and see the opportunities that I have been given.
It is
easy for me to feel lonely. To feel forgotten. To feel useless and unable. I
think it easy for all of us to feel that way. Facebook is one of the places I
can look to remind myself that none of those things are true.
Back in my day we had physical photo albums and those were
full of pictures of birthdays, vacations, and candid holiday snaps. Seldom if
ever, did my mom whip out a camera to take pics to show off our bumps and
bruises, our tantrums, or when the house looked like a family of four lived
there.
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| Back in my day Facebook was called photo albums. |
Photo albums are curated. They are carefully chosen to present a particular story.
The most intentional way I curate my online presence is through my (not so
perfect) daily picture photo albums.
Just under five years ago, I began a project to catalogue one thing from
my day. One part of my routine, one place I went, one thing I saw, one thing
that marked the day. One thing to remind
me that when I feel isolated or limited or even just stuck that the total
picture of my day, week, month, year is larger than what I can see in those moments.
These albums balance somewhere between a journal, spiritual exercise, art
project, and time capsule.
Those that follow this blog will know that there have been
some rough times, and more transitions than I really care to count in the last
few years. However, just because
something ends, doesn’t mean the good times of the past didn’t happen.
Certainly our present colors our past, but it shouldn’t completely rewrite it.
My pictures don’t always reflect the fondest of memories. Amidst
the board games in Chicago, the Middle School Concerts in Florida, and the
blue purple-ish sunsets in California are photos marking auto collisions,
hospital visits (unrelated), and braces for busted elbows.
As noted above, these photo albums are put together for me
to look back upon. However, I am grateful for all of you have come along with
me on this journey.
Nine years ago, I started this blog when I moved away from
my home and my friends in Southern California. It was a simple way to keep
those who I served with, those I loved, and those who loved me included in what
I was doing.
Today, this blog serves to help
keep in touch with those I have served and loved, and those who have loved me
along my travels.
From Long Beach to Occidental, to Chicago, to Houston, to
Copperopolis, back to Long Beach, and now out in Gainseville. I am privileged
to be able to continue to curate memories and then be able to share them all
with you.
--Jesse Letourneau
