This is huge. Like, hasn't-happened-in-years level of huge.

I got a picture of me open-mouthed smiling.

Well, ok that sounds...

It's more nuanced than that. Back in the day, I was uh... predictable yet exuberant when it came to having my picture taken. You could say I smiled wide, but it's more accurate to say I just opened my mouth wide.

My grandfather's a professional photographer and videographer, so my cousins and I got used to hearing "say Pepsi!" pretty much any time our family got together (everybody expects "cheese" he'd say). So, right on cue, I'd unhinge my jaw.

I'm told it's just how I smiled.

Exhibit A:

Eventually, I figured out the whole "smiling" thing. I learned to transform it into something closer to an actual smile. And my camera roll is full of photos where I'm somewhere in the mountains saying "pepsi," to no one but my phone, with my mouth wide open. Well, it used to be full of photos like that, anyway.

Recently I realized I've kind of stopped taking pictures altogether.

For a while there I wondered if I was taking too many; if I was snapping outdoor selfies to capture a moment or to post them on Instagram. And, eventually I stepped away from Instagram altogether, somewhere around 2022 or 2023. By that point, I'd already stopped doing a lot of the outdoor stuff I'd once loved, too.

Exhibit B:

~2020

It's been kind of a long time since I've made that face for the camera while goofin around somewhere in the mountains.

In the last handful of years, things have looked a little bit more... reserved. It's not like there isn't visible happiness in more recent photos of me. But, maybe it's safe to say there has been a deficiency of exuberance.

Exhibit C:

~2025

WELL, let me tell ya, the drought is over. It wasn't even intentional, either; I only realized it after the fact.

It happened the other day while trail running. I was zoomin on a downhill section and when it flattened out I felt the urge to snap a pic. It felt sort of like one of the moments on an outdoor escapade from years ago, but I didn't add it to my Instagram story. I didn't even include it with my segment on Strava. I guess I'm sharing it here, but it's really less about "hey, look at me doing stuff outside" and more about the open-mouthed expression emerging from extinction hibernation!!

Ok, ok, ok — ready?

Exhibit D:

2026

---

Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
339/365

Do you take photos anymore? That you don't share on social media?

onward. 

For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.