I remember a story about one of the photographs taken of me, when I was about four years old. I used to dislike the picture to the point of having a desire to destroy it. Honestly I do not know what stopped me from doing so, but I am glad it did because I adore this picture now. I keep it displayed and often share my story about it. Had I destroyed it, I imagine that my memory of it would not be the loving one.

We create albums of photographs. We do not include every picture in them. We select. The rest of them either get destroyed, forgotten or hidden away. Some of them get shared, some of them do not. Some of them were taken by us, some of them by others. Some of them we give to others, some of them we receive from others.

Our lives are multi-photographed, multi-storied. We grow attached to particular
photographs-stories and they describe conclusions about who we are, who we are not, whether we cherish ourselves or quite the opposite, whether we are embraced by others or feel alienated from them.

Where are the other photographs-stories?
Are they lost?
Is it possible to trace them?
To retrieve them?
Is anyone else having access to some of them?
Can we create a different album?
Can we create a richer album?

Therapeutic conversations contribute to finding forgotten photographs-stories of authentic lived experiences. There is a rich process embraced in restoring them, reclaiming them, receiving them from others and then suddenly realizing that it is possible to have a more complete or sometimes totally new album of photographs. An album which invites people to tell new stories about their purposes, values, commitments, dreams, hopes, and visions.