Less than a Latte 6-2-2012: Pictures to Happiness

Yesterday on my Happy Healthy Gluten Free facebook page (go here to "like" it!) I posted that the family was going to the Phillies game last night because my older son Corley (of gluten-free product video review fame) was going to be singing the national anthem with his school choir. We had another momentous trip to a Phillies game in 2008 in which we came up with a Ryan Howard homerun ball. That event is captured (forever, I hope) in the MLB video vault, so I sought it out and posted the link for everyone to enjoy. That baseball game was one of the most exciting and memorable events of my life. Watching the video revived all those feelings of fun and excitement. And I also think I had one of my best parenting moments -- you'll note at the end of the clip it was I who picked up the ball and I immediately thrust it in Corely's hands so that he got to be the big star on the Jumbotron. So fun! And I have a great story to go along with it if you ever want to hear it -- it goes a little far afield for the point I'm trying to make here.

The point, you ask? There is evidence out there (I've read it and I'm looking for the source and will post it in a comment when I find it!) that indicates that looking at old pictures makes you happy. There is no way I can't smile when I look at the screen grab of Corley holding that baseball. Or when I look back through old facebook posts, or scroll through the pics on my phone when I'm standing in line at the post office, or when I get around to working on scanning our old photos that are in boxes in the basement.

My friend Jeannine goes on photo walks, and she also posts pictures of her morning coffee of Facebook. We haven't talked about it specifically, but when I've tried to do something similar, the act of finding the right angle or staging the photo helps me look for and find the beauty in settings I might overlook otherwise. So, I think this type of mindful photography, in addition to looking at old snaps, can give a body boost to their mood. In this age of digital photography and cameras on phones, it doesn't cost anything extra. Worth a shot, right?

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