“How many selfies do you take of yourself in a day?” A friend shrieked as she thumbed through my camera roll and marveled at the amount of pictures I’d taken of myself within my gallery. To be honest, there were plenty of them there, but not nearly as many as she was letting on. Truth be told, I am quite the selfie-taker. When the light’s peering through my shades at the right angle, when that stubborn hair is finally at rest, when there’s but the faintest twinkle in my eye, I shamelessly pull my phone out and give it a click. And voila! I’ve documented that moment of pure, simplistic contentment that I’ve mustered up. You don’t come by these instances often, but when they do present themselves, why not advantageously gift yourself with a keepsake?

Selfie, as told by Time magazine in 2012, had become part of the top 10 buzzwords of that given year. According to Merriam-Webster, a selfie is defined as an image of oneself taken by oneself using a camera of some sort, especially for the posting on social networks. Although they precede the phase of popularity, they gained ground at the epoch of social network and media being introduced to the web. By 2013, selfie was named the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year. And by now, the noun has become strongly interwoven into our vocabularies, likening itself much to words like “the” and “to.”

Plenty of older folks think that us Millennials can’t help but become absolutely engulfed by our smartphones, but it may be doing more good than they think. I’m not advocating for anyone using their phones to purposely ignore their parents, though. By all means, get lost in the remix for “Sorry” by Justin Bieber, but be sure to also tune into conversation here and there. It’s the least you can do.

When I review my first selfies, I’m astonished by how absolutely horrendous they are: the part in my hair was etched way too close to my ear, I threw up the peace sign like it was going out of style (it hasn’t, it probably won’t) and my eyeliner was caked on as if I was trying to somehow imitate the look of a raccoon. But what interests me the most about these photos is how incredibly raw they are. They are the picture of innocence amidst the age of growth before adolescence and young adulthood could tear down the threads of approval that I still maintained on my behalf. In these selfies, I have captured moments of profundity within myself that I oftentimes find hard to believe existed before it hit. I see my thin lips color in the lines and become full. Over the years, my hair begins to fall flat, and suddenly twists up. My cheekbones heighten and my eyes widen in inspiration.

Sooner than later, this makeshift quilt of selfies is more becoming of myself than I could have imagined. I have a valid opportunity to record the ultimates of my personal journey in an assortment of photos of none other than myself. It’s definitely not to say that I’m always bearing a cheeky smile whenever you see me, but I can say wholeheartedly that beyond the beam is endurance, perseverance and a dedication to learning to love myself. On my low days, I scroll through those many pictures of Demi and can’t help but turn the ends of my mouth up in a smile. So take a selfie and learn to get lost in yourself for a little while longer. It can’t hurt.