Thirty One Days Of Happiness Tips Day 27

                                 Image: Pexels from Pixabay

My happiness tip for day 27 is take photos. We tend to take photos of the good times, things that brighten our day, something beautiful or quirky. Having a camera or your mobile phone in your hand encourages you to look for something interesting to snap so you are focussing on the positive. It doesn't need to be a complicated or sophisticated piece of equipment, just something that will take a snap.

What should you take photos of?

Photojournalist David Allio gives the following advice, ‘Photograph what makes you happy. It may not have value to anyone else, but it will have value to you.’ In order for taking photos to boost your happiness you need to concentrate on the things that interest and are important to you. Some of these things may have no interest to others, that doesn't matter.

I feel happy every time I look at my pic of baby swallows                     Image:Marie Vonow

I love taking photos of birds, animals, street art, quirky things, flowers, houses, friends and family and things that might be useful as an image for articles and blog posts I write. Sometimes I photograph something I think could be useful as background to the title image for a piece of online writing. That could be bark chips, a brick wall or a piece of patterned fabric. These pics would often have others wondering why I bothered to take them but they have value to me.

I find street art fascinating                                  Image:Marie Vonow

Should you post lots of pics on social media?

Some warn against taking numerous pics while you are socialising saying doing so stops you from interacting with your friends. They also say it promotes FOMO (fear of missing out) in others if you are constantly posting snaps on social media showing yourself appearing to be having a wonderful time.

Conversely, I have read about a study carried out by the University of California which found posting selfies regularly to friends can make one feel calmer, more connected and happier.

The same study found sending pics of things that make an individual happy or that they thought would boost the other person's happiness had a positive effect. That makes sense to me.

Let's get back to the question of whether sharing selfies on social media is going to have a positive or negative effect on your happiness. We all have different personalities and react differently to things. We have different groups of friends who are involved in different activities. My suggestion is, if sharing selfies with your friends on a social media platform makes you happy, then do it. If, on the other hand, it makes you feel inadequate or miserable, find another way to stay in touch with those that matter to you.

                                                                                          Image:Amilcar Vanden-Bouch from Pixabay

Mindful photography

I have read about mindful photography, also referred to as contemplative photography or slow photography where the emphasis is on the process of taking a photo, not on the result. The person is encouraged to take their time, relax and enjoy taking a snap of things that make them happy. It is suggested one use a mobile phone or the simplest digital camera so there is no worrying about adjusting settings. There are courses in mindful photography but from what I have read I can't see the need or any benefit.

I find taking photos makes me happy. Looking through pics I have taken provides another dose of happiness