Things we can't Google

Do you remember spending time at your parents' or grandparents' house when you were a kid? Do you remember sitting on the floor to play a game, or looking at the wallpaper in the kitchen while someone made you dinner?

I bet you can remember how it felt to be in that space--what the house smelled like when your grandpa made spaghetti, how the carpet felt when you stretched out to relax in the living room, or how the rain sounded on the porch roof. Those experiences become ingrained in the fiber of who we are. But if you had to picture the details that made up that space, could you?

It might seem silly to take a formal photograph of carpet. But when I think about being in my grandparents' house as a kid, this green and tan swirl comes to mind--vaguely--right away. I can allllmost put myself there in my mind, but not quite. But as soon as I look at this photo, I'm right back to a space that I can't visit in person anymore.

The everyday details that surround us serve as a background setting to our stories, until those details and spaces aren't there anymore--then they become so much more. Photographs can transport us back to places we can no longer visit, and allow us to carry those memories with us into the future--concretely.

If you're in a space that feels meaningful to you, I encourage you to capture it--down to the tiniest thing you think you might want to remember someday. If you're downsizing, or working with someone in the process of making a move, I'd love to help you put your home into photos that you can carry with you to whereever you're headed next.