What’s in a selfie?

I’m taking an online writing course—a New Year’s resolution that I’m fighting hard to make time for. Each lesson ends with an assignment. And this week’s homework was to choose a selfie from my phone and write about it.

It turns out that out of the hundreds of photos I took last year, three of them are selfies.

One was on a cross-country ski on a single-digit day—I had just come down a big hill and was feeling exuberant. Another was hiking up a mountain in the rain with my dog. And the third was taken last spring, seconds after plunging into a freezing-cold pond.

Looking through them, I realized they all were taken with the same purpose in mind: to capture a feeling I wanted my future self to remember.

What's in a selfie?

My favorite of the bunch is the pond photo. I'm so glad I took it, because it helped me remember details I had forgotten.

In the photo, I’m giving a thumbs up to the camera, because I planned to send it to a friend. She had recently taken a polar plunge in her still half-frozen pond and was the inspiration behind my little adventure.

Plus, I was overheated. I had just finished a long run on one of the first warm days of spring. So when I passed by my neighbor's pond, I thought it looked like a quick way to cool off.

And it was. The water must have been about 40 degrees, because I remember how quickly my skin went numb. I jumped in and scrambled out in equal amounts of time.

In the background of the photo, just beyond the pond, the field is that fresh spring green. But the trees are still bare, and I'm surprised to see patches of snow in the forest beyond. The sky is grey.

I remember how invigorated I felt, standing barefoot in the grass. With the sweet smell of spring in the air and the birds chirping in the trees around me.

This sense of exhilaration is what I was trying to capture in the selfie. When I zoom into my face, there's an aliveness, a light in my eyes.

Go figure. I was all by myself on a cloudy day during mud season. And I was outrageously happy.

Recipe for joy

Sometimes I worry that I spend too much time alone. My kids are pretty much all grown up; I live in a rural, often isolating place; and I work from home.

I’m alone a lot.

But these selfies reminded me that many of my happiest moments are times when I’m all by myself. Not making dinner or reading a book or driving down the road. But on some kind of solo adventure. Always outdoors. And it's usually snowing, sleeting, or raining. Or very cold.

For me, there's something about being in the elements.

The other day I was talking to my brother about this. We’re similar in that we both seek out these somewhat uncomfortable situations.

I was wondering out loud why this is so. And we agreed that it has something to do with these experiences bringing us out of our head and into our body.

I think that’s it.

These happy moments that warrant a selfie are times when I’ve shut off my brain and am fully immersed in whatever I’m doing.

Challenging weather and exercise is the combo that does this for me. For someone else, it's a different recipe. I have a friend who loves to lose herself in museums. She melts into the work of art, leaving her churning thoughts behind.

This is a good thing to know about yourself.

And if you don’t know what those things are that help you come alive, then I recommend taking a selfie whenever you get a sudden shot of happiness. Do that for a few months and I bet you’ll have your answer.