The Stranger in the Photo

Salutations! Tonight, I was thinking about the past again. Well, that's kind of something I've been doing a lot lately, some of you might have noticed this.

I want to ask you the following question: when looking into the photo of yourself, let's say from 5 years ago, do you recognise the person there as yourself, or is it just a stranger who happened to inhabit the same body?

I've been wondering this about myself quite a lot, especially when I look at photos of me from long ago. I'm already old enough to even see myself in black and white, memories of a smile I used to have, of that childlike innocence that feels so familiar, yet is now so far from who I am. Sometimes it even feels like I am not the person I was even months ago, let alone that child in the photo.

But is that a bad thing? Do these old photos actually represent a better version of ourselves? Unfortunately, I cannot give you a straight answer, though I hope to say yes.

As a philosopher I know quite well once said, we are the sum of our experiences, and one of the most important questions one should ask himself is "if given the chance to live every moment of your life again, exactly as it is now, with every decision intact, would you accept?"

It's a simple question, with a yes or no answer, but most forget one aspect about it: the choices, the experience, the trials we face, those are the things that shaped the person in the photo to be who you are right now.

What would your answer be to this question?