I’m joining in on the #fmfparty (Five Minute Friday). This is a writer’s link up hosted by Kate Motaung. Each Friday, she offers a single word writing prompt. The participants have five minutes to free write whatever comes to mind using that one word as their prompt. No overthinking, no editing. However, being the rebel that I am, I will likely edit for spelling and blatant bad grammar.
I hope whatever I write makes some sort of sense and I’m not totally embarrassing myself. This will be a good way for me to get some words out and keep the writing juices flowing. It will also help me connect with other writers who long to become better writers and are willing to be vulnerable with their craft.
Today’s prompt is COLLECT.
My five minutes starts now. Ready. Set. Go.
…..
I collect pictures.
A friend once pointed out to me that I had over 17,000 pictures on facebook. I jokingly told her that my goal in life was to find out if Facebook had a limit. haha! That was several years ago. I’m not sure what the count is at now but I do appreciate Facebook letting me use their server for one of my backups.
I have gone through dark seasons and come out of them and looked at pictures where I was smiling. It was encouraging to me to see that during that time I wasn’t a complete downer. My pictures remind me that there was joy in the midst of sadness.
I don’t want to live my life through the lens of a camera but I do want to capture it. My photos are all a part of my story. When I look at a photo of a faraway land or a gorgeous flower, it takes me back to those treasured memories.
If a picture says a thousand words, then I have collected millions of words – which I also love to collect. My collection of pictures is a collection of memories. A collection of stories. A collection of moments in time. Moments that I get to keep forever.
Stop.
(5 minutes, 211 words)
…..
I asked my husband what he thought of with the prompt “collect”. He said he would write about collect calls. Is there even a need for collect calls anymore? What do you think of? What do you collect? share in the comments here or on the EPFH Facebook page.
Click over to Five Minute Friday to read more about this week’s prompt and/or to add your own link.
Empty Plate . Full Heart 
Hey #fmfparty neighbor! I almost wrote about collecting pictures, too. My sister was a photographer and she taught me how to be comfortable both in front of and behind a camera.
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What a gift your sister gave you! Thanks for stopping by, neighbor!
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I love that you collect photos. I will head over to your FB page and look at them all! I wish I took more photos. Life happens too fast to not stop and capture. So thankful to have found you (Yay, another blogger with older children and grand children). I’m in the #7 spot this week.
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Can’t wait to get to know you, Barbie. I will go check out your blog soon!
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Great post, Andrea. I think it’s smart to collect pictures, to remind oneself in the dark times that one was happy, once, and might be again.
I suppose I collect grace; in the midst of a very frightening and painful illness (that will kill me), I look for things for which I can say, with sincerity, “Thanks, God.”
#1 at FMF this week.
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-dying-spouse-339-revelation-and.html
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Collector of grace… that is a wonderful thing to collect. I’m anxious to go read your post. Sorry to hear about your illness. My prayers are with you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Ba ha ha I can’t tell you the last time I thought about collect calls (good one, husband!). But there might be ……… I wonder if some prisons have them although most have probably gone to some type of calling card (or something) (I did a little bit of googling and it appears collect calls haven’t completely gone away — interesting! Love your observations about your picture collection.
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haha! Times, they are a changin’. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. So happy you stopped by. I’ll head over to read your post asap.
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Collect my thoughts comes to mind. But I love your idea of collecting pictures and the memories that they represent.
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Thoughts… I have way more of those than I care to sometimes. Interesting concept to ponder, though. Wondering if collecting thoughts is beneficial or detrimental. I suppose it’s both depending on which thoughts we collect.
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