Whether you believe the consumer-driven growth model will break or not, I do like the idea of a happiness-driven economy where people are happier with less stuff.
“We will realize, he predicts, that the consumer-driven growth model is broken and we have to move to a more happiness-driven growth model, based on people working less and owning less. “How many people,” Gilding asks, “lie on their death bed and say, ‘I wish I had worked harder or built more shareholder value,’ and how many say, ‘I wish I had gone to more ballgames, read more books to my kids, taken more walks?’ To do that, you need a growth model based on giving people more time to enjoy life, but with less stuff.” source
While you and I may not think about family pictures on our death bed, I do know that in times of loss we often turn to those family pictures of yesteryear. There is comfort and memories found in pictures of our relatives and friends. Pictures also give us a tangible link to the past and a glimpse into the lives our forefathers lived.
The photo album is usually the one thing people would grab if their house were on fire, myself included. There’s no thing more precious than pictures of our family.
The picture to the right is of my grandfather (front) and his brother from approximately 1938. I had never seen this picture until a few weeks ago. I have many, many great memories of my grandfather (he passed away in 1998 when I was 23), but I never knew him when he had so much hair. This picture makes me laugh seeing my grandpa this way and it brings to mind all the great times I spent with him.
I often imagine how cool it would be to see my sons play and interact with their great-grandpa. I know my grandpa would have loved seeing my boys play baseball and run through the sprinklers on a hot summer day, just as he loved watching his grand kids do the same thing. He would have been thrilled to take my boys to a farm near his home in rural Iowa to see the animals and sit on a tractor. And my boys would have loved his jokes, stories, and his enduring laugh I can still hear to this day.
My grandpa is gone, but my memories are refreshed and enjoyed when I see pictures of him, especially pictures like this one.
While photography is a way to earn a living, I find happiness in creating beautiful pictures I know will be enjoyed and treasured by your family and generations to come.
Chris and Jessica laughing about how it feels to be on the other side of the camera.
