Photobooks are great for showcasing and preserving photos of everything from family vacations and holidays to all the other everyday little moments in between. That is great. However, that’s not what Mylestones is about.
Mylestones is designed to elevate and celebrate big life moments. Although it’s been said that a picture paints a thousand words, the truth is that photos are silent. They tell only a tiny part of the story, missing the meaningful thoughts, feelings and backstory that underlies every peak moment in life.
Imagine a photo album full of photos of a young man on his graduation day from high school. There are photos in him wearing his cap and gown, walking across a stage accepting a diploma, and throwing the cap into the air. The stage, cap, gown, tassel and graduation tickets serve as window-dressing for the event. He is smiling and laughing. Can you see it? It is a happy day… a rite of passage. But, the truth is that those photos could be most any kid on any stage in any town or city in the last 50 years. That photobook is sweet, but pretty common. The photos don’t tell the story of what it took for him to get to that milestone moment.
The photobook doesn’t capture how hard he studied for years, taking five AP exams, four science labs and earning two robotics certifications. It doesn’t communicate the grades he earned (Honor roll), the challenges he had to overcome (dyslexia, asthma and his parent’s divorce), or how proud his family was of him being the first to be accepted to college. The photobook says little about the many friendships he developed in ROTC, Engineering Club, and band or the people he helped while completing over 300 service hours at Habitat for Humanity. None of that is in the photobook. That’s because photos alone don’t capture the whole story so that his future children and grandchildren know what he was like as a teenager. A photobook is mute.
Now imagine those same photos accompanied by messages from his mother and father praising his countless hours of studying late into the night and passing all his classes with flying colors. Can you see the message from his sister telling him how proud she is of the 300 hours of volunteer work he did helping build a Habitat house for a disable veteran and his family? Imagine the messages from his grandparents remembering his tenacity to pass the Advanced Placement exams in Physics and Calculus. And, the messages from his band buddies thanking him for always being willing to stay late to help put away band equipment. The photos wouldn’t do justice in communicating the deep pride his family felt watching him be the first to earn a high school diploma in their family of immigrants. Those messages tell a story that – along with the photos – would give depth and substance to that defining moment… to that particular achievement. They speak to his character and qualities. The messages encourage him to persevere as he heads to college and eventually to MIT. The messages say “We see you. You did it! We are so proud of you. You matter to us!” Not only do they commemorate his accomplishment, they also serve as rocket fuel for his goals and ambition.
Whereas photobooks are sweet but silent, Mylestones books dive deep into peak moments to add rich detail and context. A Mylestones book tells the story and then preserves it forever.
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