For weeks now, I’ve spent my early mornings perched in my office chair, wrapped up in a blanket, hitting “delete.”

I’d like to pretend I don’t know how my hard drives have filled up with thousands upon thousands of photos, overloading my storage and causing fits of anxiety each time I dive into editing. 

Combine ADHD with being a working mother, and there just never seemed to be any time left in the day to spend cleaning out the old piles of photos captured at hundreds of Sullivan County events in the past two decades. Digital storage has become a bit like the junk drawer in your kitchen. So long as you don’t open it, you can pretend it’s not there. 

But now that I’m making the time to clean out the bad stuff and save the good stuff, and creating galleries that I’ll soon make public (watch this space for a website link!), I’m discovering precious gifts that have been hidden away for years. 

Sure, there are plenty of “just delete” photos that have gone straight to the trash. I’ve gotten rid of photobombers and duplicates of “that one good shot.” I’ve bid adieu to faces mid-yawn and mouths wide open. I’ve dumped out blurry captures caught while I myself was moving too fast. 

At the same time, I’ve discovered photos of people who we have lost over the years, captures of them still vibrant and full of life. 

Through photos, I’ve had the chance to revisit the joy of the county fair, the thrill of town parades, and the solemnity of veterans services. 

I’ve unearthed memories of countless people I’ve been lucky enough to meet thanks to my role as photojournalist here at the Democrat, people who have taught me things about life and living in a small community.

It may be time to say goodbye to all those test shots of a random fence and accidental clicks that captured a foot, but I’m having an adventure saying hello to so much more.