Living in the Past: A Facebook Beginning

The story, as I've always thought it to be true, is that I never liked having my picture taken. As an adult, I mean. Avoided the photo opportunity, and hated myself in the picture when it couldn't be avoided. Avoided the camera.

That is, until digital photography, with its ease of picture-taking, so inexpensive. At that point, I avoided being in the photo by becoming the picture-taker, being behind the camera. A way to see the world. A way to be in the room without being noticed or called upon for that dreaded small talk.

When facebook came around, which, for me, was in 2009, selfies came with it. What a horrid idea, I thought, how ego-driven, how vain. But, then, I "friended" (how strange it was then to use this word in this way, but how natural it is today) a former college photography teacher, who couldn't quite remember me, and wanted to see what I looked like. Why don't I post a photo of myself, he casually suggested.

Alone, in my living room, I froze. A photo of myself. Well, even if I was inclined to do so, which I was not, I simply had no recent photos of myself.

But, daily on Facebook, people were posting their selfies -- eating food, waiting in line at the movie theater, partying with friends, sitting on the couch with their dog or cat. Daily, I gazed at these photos people had taken of themselves and shared with others.

And, so, I found myself doing this extraordinary thing -- taking a photo of myself. Planning the photo, thinking about the lighting, and my hair, and should I wear my reading glasses? Turning the camera around and aiming it at me.

And, then, this extraordinary thing happened. I liked the photo. It was me, this is who I was, me in my 50s in my living room. I posted it to my facebook. My first selfie ever (or so I thought, but that's another story).

Well, that turned out to be a Pandora's Box. I began taking selfies here and there, eventually everywhere. Mirrors, glass, reflections in puddles -- there were selfie opportunities wherever I went. Selfies are our "Kilroy was here" expressions. We are here! We are living day to day! We are not ashamed.

Today, I had this idea. An autobiography by selfie. What do the accumulated selfies say about me? Am I really there?

So, every day, for as many days as it takes, until there are no more left, I will post a selfie. And, just for the fun of it, I'm going to go chronologically backwards in time, starting with today, and then finding myself here, there, in the yesterdays of yesterday.

It's going to take a while, I warn you, so I will also occasionally post the Local History stories too.

And so we begin at this beginning. Below is the selfie that I posted that day in 2009 . . .