Why We #TellOn

It's always been about the stories: chapters hidden under our noses, stowed in boxes, lost in camera rolls. For what's told and tucked away isn't always recalled, and is less often retold.

We each have our own. In telling them, we create permanence. In sharing them, we find humanity. And in turn, our differences give way to the truths that bind: love and loss, triumph and failure, family and friendship. The richest of stories born in the simplest of moments… universal experiences that feel unique to our souls.

It's the doubt at the trailhead and the view from the summit. Late nights out and lazy mornings in. Tangled limbs and tummy tickles. Hugs hello. Kisses goodbye. Spring's whimsy. Winter's warmth. The ephemeral, fleeting moments that will forever live on: if only we let them, if often we mark them, if at times we share them. If we engage in not only the conversation between experience and archive, but its exchange from human to human — parents to children, lovers to partners, "me" to "you."

Eight years from our own origin, we pause to honor that exchange, celebrating a community born in photo and bound by experience. We look back at the simple call to share your moments on Instagram… and the collective narrative of over 400,000 it has become.

Today, we are humbled and honored for the chance to follow along, knowing that each story is unique and, in every way, worth telling. For everyone has a story to tell — beautiful in its blur, perfect in its imperfection, history in its own right.

Embrace yours. #TellOn