What value does a memory hold?

Why does oneself value his memories? Is it the emotiones those memories hold? the laughter, the sadness, the embaressement, or is it the people, the environment, the thoughts, the mindset?

What value does a picture hold? It's a literal piece of paper, is it not?

What we value isn't the acutal photo, it's what's behing it, the feelings it holds, it takes us back in time, it gives us a reminder of who we are, or who we were, where it all started.

Every once in a while, when you feel lost, a peek at your old memories works as a distraction from all the worries, it's the closest we ever got to freeze time.The picure looks at you the same way you look at it. It asks you to stop thinking and carrying the weight of your present, of your future, the picture looks at you, asking for it to be admired, for you to admire who you once were, to admire the people that were around you at a time. Those people might still exist, but are they the same people they once were? Even if they are, the version of you viewing the picture might not be the same one that was once in it. Therefore, they might be the same still, but for you, they're not, you view them differently. From that we conclude that a persons action towards you isn't the only factor in how you view them. It might not even be the most responsible factor for how you view them. One feature that makes mankind different than other living creatures on earth, is that we are responsible for who we are, not fully, but to a certain extent. The actions of the people around you haven't changed, it's you who changed, it's you who decided to percieve and take in those actions that people made differently, no matter what it is they did, you can't fully hold them responsible for what you feel. Because emotions are so deep inside a humans soul, so deep to the level that they can't be altered from the environment outside your own being if you stop them from doing so, an emotion isn't a lever you pull up or down. It's a REACTION, that reaction is produced by your heart, your brain, your mindset.