Saturday Snapshots: July 18, 2015

{Heartwarming, timeless and very easy to relate to, this immensely sweet photo from c. 1918 shows three young sisters busily engaged in needlework on the verandah of their Toowong, Australia home as their matching trio of dolls watch on.}




{This photo from 1950, which has the accompanying note of "Irma at home" lands a place in today's post because Irma's red skirt suit and sophisticated bird wing adorned hat are the kind of early 50s fashions that make swoon and then go running to Etsy to try and duplicate those same styles! :) (PS: If you click though to this person's Flickr stream, you can see lots more photos of Irma over the years.)}




{A wonderful car, elegant mid-century attire, and a great getaway to the woods. Sounds like my idea of summertime heaven!}




{It was all I could do to keep my knees from buckling when I came across this delightful vintage photograph or two friends or relatives in their causal c. 1940s daywear attire. I mean, come on, just look at that A-MAH-ZING airplane novelty print sweet. Tres swoon!}




{A once common part of youth for many women that is now all but forgotten in most circles, these lovely ladies from 1954 were all debutants that year - and what a beautifully evening/party dress adorned group they were!}




{Tourists, and likely the occasional local or two as well, exploring Windsor Castle, 1949. I'm always drawn to vintage crowd shots like this - they give you such a good look a decent chunk of the population at one time and thus many outfits and hairstyles to study, learn from, and simply enjoy seeing.}




{The caption "traveling with friends" accompanies this 1920s photo of six fashionably attired ladies who all look marvelous from their elegant shoes right on up to their jaunty cloche hats. Talk about traveling (with friends) in style!}




{This photo stirs a sense of nostalgia in me. Though you need to bump things up about three decades, this photo could easily have been taken little me along with my mom and aunts or some of her girlfriends during my childhood. Not only that, but look at that crazy cool animal and cocktail print wallpaper - I had to post this 1950s photo if only for that!}




{Two young woman (very) hard at work on the war effort front, March 1943. I always seriously admire how well dressed and put together those who did these kind of demanding manual labour jobs still managed to look day in and day out.}




{The cross section of genuine facial expressions in this 1950s colour photo is more perfect than had it been staged. You're got the visibly concerned, serious faced lady on the right, the woman engaged in telling her story on the left, the sweet, excited little gal in the middle who looks like she just saw Santa Claus step into the room. }

{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}

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Several months ago I was involved in a situation with someone for whom I went unbelievably above and beyond. I'm prone to doing this. It's in my nature not just to care, but to care incredibly deeply. I am an empath, a highly sensitive person, and INFJ, so you can likely image (or perhaps personally relate) to the fact that I quite literally feel other people's feelings and can sense a mile away when someone is in distress, is upset, was hurt - any negative or positive emotion, I'll read like a book, even if they don't say a word. In fact, it often between those proverbial lines that I pick up the very truest clues.

The details of what unfolded do not merit relaying, but the very in-a-nutshell version of things is that I did what I felt was an incredibly kind and generous thing and the person I was trying to help (who it should be noted, gave me permission to do so for beforehand) rebuked, complained about, and was mind-blowingly rude regarding what I had done.

I didn't see that coming in a million years and was floored by it (believe me, I say this without an ounce of bias, their response was incredibly uncouth, hurtful and selfish). I mean, to the point where I literally felt a powerfully crushing, gripping sensation in the center of my chest for days afterwards. I was nearly paralyzed from the trauma of their reaction and I was as good as useless to myself and the rest of the world for at least a week as I slowly began to recover from how incredibly ungrateful and hurtful they were to me.

I'm a sensitive person, there's no question about it, but I've been wronged, slighted, screwed over, used, you name it, over the years, and for all my tender emotions, I've grown quite a thick skin, so to have someone (who I barely knew) trouble me so deeply was unnerving unto itself.

Far from being bitter or even angry at that person. I felt sorry from them. Pity sprung the very core of my heart and I wondered how they could function in this world with the attitude that they possessed. I wept and in a way I grieved for them, but through it all, I never regretted the actions I had taken in my attempt to make their life better, their world happier.

During that rough patch in my life, I thought and meditated on the quote that launches today's edition (the first this year, believe it or not) of Saturday Snapshots, hailing from the mind of that wise philosopher (amongst other things) of ancient Rome, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who said "It is another's fault if he be ungrateful, but it is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man, I will oblige a great many that are not so."

Each time I read it, my soul calmed. My nerves relaxed, my heartbeat slowly returned to normal and the invisible elephant sat up and wandered off from my chest. It would be easy to let an experience like that one jade or sour you. To turn your spirit harsh, your heart cold. To make you stop remembering that there is good in many and that there are some people who can never truly be pleased or who lack the ability to experience genuine gratitude.

I could have, but I didn't. For I did not do so each time (with other people) at earlier stages in my life, and I will not when something similar happens down the road in the future. It is bound to. There are too many human beings on this planet to not run into at least a handful more before my mortal time expires that will cause similar feelings, provoke such agonizing reactions, and who have as little clue about how to be grateful as that aforementioned elephant does about flying a spaceship to the moon.

Today, a relatively long time after this experience unfolded, I share it with you here to let you know that if you're currently facing, have dealt with, or will one day encounter something similar, that you're not alone. This problem predated even our good man Seneca (not to mention all the lovely folks in these vintage snapshots) and it will far outlast each and every one of us here.

When you encounter ungratefulness, and I promise you that you will, think not of that individual but of those for whom your actions, words and caring soul were appreciated - and of those who stirred in you those very same feelings.

The next time someone does something from a place of love and care for you, make sure your look them straight in the eyes (or write a heartfelt thank you letter/email) and make sure that they know just how very grateful you are. Believe me, Seneca, would approve, and so will the rest of the people in today's world that you will actually want to be around as you move forward with your life after having been dealt a painful reminder that it truly takes all kinds!