Emily Bett Rickards Instagram – ⚠️ fair warning this is an undercover icky sticky love post ⛔️ I used to go “ewww” when my parents smooched in front of me. I don’t know if parental kissing is still against toddler-law but in the 90’s displaying something so inconceivably gross and unsanitary was in direct conflict with my youthful beliefs. Contrary to my hard stance on the matter my opinions have since changed and now as an adult child of divorce I wish I could have bottled those cute moments more effectively. Photos are a form of that bottling. If I study the history of my photo taking it’s clear that the click of my film camera rapidly increases when I am surrounded by those I love. I starve to capture the fleeting moments. An insatiable thirst to saver – to remember with flavour – to preserve – to take a piece with me so I can show my future loved ones who I will, in turn, take more pictures of until I… While this momentum of capturing perpetuates without pause, my internal mycelium network is vibrating out a confirmation that where I am is where I am and where I am is where I’m meant to be. It’s a feeling reserved only for presence and at the forefront of this whirlpool are those I love. I’ll admit sometimes the camera can’t, won’t and doesn’t want to capture what the heart feels and yes I agree this has its own immeasurable value. In times like these I take the prescription of an inhale bigger than the previous as it’s another technique of divine preservation. ¡Here comes the sticky icky love part! Since Riley and I have been together we have taken 1000’s of photos on 100’s of rolls of film (a conservative number I’m afraid to accurately calculate when looking at my year end expenses). The memories we have preserved are infinite but cannot come close to the number we have made. Between the rubble and destruction there is such fortune in being human. We have the gift of language, opportunity, and when memory doesn’t suffice we have photos. Go smooch your love and when you don’t want to or can’t because there is no substitute for presence take one breathe in just a little deeper. x