The magic of these good old days

A friend recently told me that they noticed how much I express my love in lots of different ways.

In this particular situation, I had taken another silly photo and we giggled together about how expressionless he looked in the photo.

I’m often the friend that always makes sure to take photos to capture our moments together. Because of my lifestyle and generally living away from most of my close friends, it’s very rare we see each other. This friend actually joked about how “they’ll see me again in four years.” 💀 That was the moment I decided I WILL NOT leave it that long!

By the time I have to go though, I’m always ready with a shared album that is full of special memories.

Although I’m sad when I leave, going through our pictures and sharing them on social media as fun times overflows my heart with happiness and gratitude for the time spent together.

I believe this is what social media was intended for.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this since my decision on being more intentional with who looks at my personal Instagram account.

Forget all the content creator bullshit 💩, the special feelings that I described are what the connection in social media is all about.

What I share on there is to show people I care about how I’m processing my world, what my world looks like and feels like from my POV and the people that I want to elevate in my world because they make it 10x better. 💜

Receiving comments like, “I can feel how happy you are and it made me feel happy” from the people I care about the most as they experience moments of my life through my lens is… just super special to me.

Funnily enough, a few years ago someone shared a similar sentiment with me. They commented how my expression on social media is more powerful than I think it is. At the time, I didn’t have such a reach as I do these days so it was telling that I’ve been able to express myself so effectively there. It’s a double-edged sword, however! ⚔️

I vividly remember them saying, “so when you’re happy, people can FEEL it through your posts and you can easily put someone in a great mood because of it!”

But then they paused, “…However it’s the same when you’re experiencing negative emotions, you can FEEL that too. And it can be more destructive than you think.”

Since receiving that feedback, I’ve learned more about the impact of my digital expression and it’s been a couple of years… I’ve grown up! These days, my go-to place to unload extremely strong emotions is my journal. By the time any insightful thoughts make it anywhere, it’s usually gone through a few filters. Thankfully. 😂

The way people express their love vastly differs.

Documenting special moments, creating shared albums, tagging on social media or writing a blog post based on a deep conversation we had are just a collection of them.

I guess this post is to share that musing but also to say that if you get a notification that says: “@paw.lean mentioned you on their story”… it usually translates to an immense appreciation, love and gratitude for you experiencing life with me.

🧲 This post was also inspired by the song “Good Old Days” by Macklemore and Kesha.