Pictures of Happiness via Good Housekeeping

With cameras and smartphones more ubiquitous than ever, we've never taken so many pictures before. Here are the important roles they play in a happy life:

1. Happy families display a large number of photos. 
2. Photos tilt your memories toward the good experiences you've had, simply because you're more likely to take photos of joyful times. Having snapshots keep them vivid in our memories, crowding out the bad memories of our "negativity biases."
3. Photos can help you declutter. Services like plumprint.com can help you downsize on the amount of artwork you have lying around from your children. They get to keep the memories, and you get to retain your space. 
4. When you see something beautiful, it's natural to feel a desire to claim it in some way. Photos give us that opportunity, without having to shell out the money. 
5. Snapping photos fosters creativity. If you have a reason to be on the hunt for a beautiful scene to capture, you find yourself looking at your world a little differently.
6. I like to remind myself how easy it is to forget. I'm always trying to figure out ways to hold on to memories. One thing I do is keep a daily one-sentence journal. I don't have the time or energy to write much every day, but I can manage to joy down one sentence. Photographs are another easy way to record little moments that are precious but easily forgotten. I wish I could tell my younger self not to take photos of special occasions, but of everyday life. That's what will interest you later.