My year in pictures – well, just my selfies actually…..

Selfies are, well, self indulgent.

They are the very essence of who we are. Why do we take them? To see ourselves, sometimes reversed, grinning back at ourselves with other friends and loved ones in shot. Or with a large erection or natural phenomenon of significance behind us or somewhere in the blurry distance…

But for each of us, our selfie is a memory. A moment in time. Captured forever to look back on and recall the happy second it happened.

We love selfies.

Is it narcissistic? Kind of. But these are the modern equivalents of diary entries, jottings scribbled hastily to help us remember. Nowadays we all have cameras to hand to record every minute of every day. If we wanted to. We can snap our special moments easily. Social media is in on on the act and feeds the obsession. Facebook provides us with our memories of years past to share with our coterie of friends, if they are on Facebook, that is.  And Snapchat provides an often intrusive insight into the lives of others as it happens, wherever they are. Whenever they like. Immediately.

And now we have selfie sticks – one of which I most definitely do not possess. Much loved by the army of (mainly) Japanese tourists who swarmed along the waterfront in San Diego when we visited recently. They were on a maniacally purposeful mission to get themselves in shot with every piece of US Military memorabilia, warships and wonderful sculpture which adorns the coastline in homage to the fallen heroes of (mainly) WW II. Quite puzzling really.

My 2015 has been eventful. I have lived one year in another country. I have passed a milestone birthday – and I have now achieved the final age of my mother when she passed from this earth.  She seemed old to me then. I don’t feel too old. Yet.

So pardon my self (ie) indulgence. My year in (my and your) selfies. Here’s to many more!

Happy New Year!