My Year in pictures

I have never done a "My year in pictures" kind of thing. Not even shared when some social media site (was it Facebook?) tried to push one. 

But this year, while sorting the pics copied from the mobile to the laptop, I was overwhelmed by how many pics there were, and how very few of them were real. 

One thing I got truly weary of this year was pretend play - smiling for the camera, the polite smile, the nod of the head, or any other thing that was basically... not being true to self. 

So, looked through ALL the pictures of 2025, to figure out the ones in which there was no pretending. the ones in which the person looking into the camera (or not) was really me. 

38 pictures. Out of literally hundreds of pictures taken through the year. Just these 38. 

Some common threads: 

1. Most of them are selfies. At home. I am most comfortable with myself. Alone. 

2. Or with my students. 

3. Or with certain friends. Not all pics with them are peace. Its not just the person. Its the person AND the moment. 

One particular friend appears again and again. I hadn't realised, until after seeing the pics, how much of a sanctuary she feels like. 

Sigh! Now to painful execution. Some of the pics are portrait, some are landscape. Aaargh!