What is Memory Keeping?
Memory keeping is any thing you do to document your current or past memories for you or someone else to review and reflect on later. This can be in the form of images, journaling, video, or anything else that evokes the recall of moments in our life. We live in a time when memory keeping is easier than ever. We can share the stories of our lives in ways previous generations never could. Social media, video creation, scrapbooking, journaling—these are all forms of memory keeping. Since most of us carry around these amazing devices in our pockets called smart phones we can capture stories and mini moments in an instant.
Here is my why:
To document the every day for my family and turn simple moments into memories so we have a life to look back on for years to come.
Time and time again, I will continue to say “your story matters,” because honestly it does! It matters to me, it matters to your children and family, and it matters to others in this beautiful memory keeping community. We want to help you on this journey, but ultimately you have to be the captain of this ship and guide your story to it’s ultimate end. But along the way, remember that there are others here to help you as long as you remember that it’s your story, it matters, and you’re important.
Why YOU should memory keep
The more we grow, the more we begin to realize that our own memory is not reliable. As you encounter millions of meaningful stories in your lifetime you start noticing that not everything stays behind for you to remember, but every moment is important and deserves a time to shine. Our stories matters, so I focus on capturing all moments big and small, significant and seemingly not, because these are the moments that make up our life’s story.
Getting started can feel overwhelming to the point that often people put it off or don’t do it. When we do this we are not leaving behind our legacy. We are not acting as the historian for our own families. We are not leaving our mark on this world.
I was listening to a podcast one day about scrapbooking and memory keeping in general. They were talking about how they imagine their funeral; the room is filed with scrapbooks and all of the people that they love are flipping through each book and remembering the moments that they captured with bits of paper and tons of photos. This really got me thinking about why you should memory keep. You should memory keep with the intention of leaving something behind so that future family members can watch your videos, flip through your journals, and glance at your scrapbooks to remember who you were/are.
Different forms of Memory Keeping
Memory Keeping can be planning and journaling. Journaling is the most simple and easiest form of memory keeping. It’s a great way to start documenting your story, and it’s a method I still use on a regular basis to jot down important bits that I want to be sure to fully embellish on later.
Memory Keeping can be photo and video creation. Video is one of the best current formats for keeping memories. Video can do what no other platform can—capture movement, audio, and visuals that literally take you back to the time in which the story was originally being told through that moment.
Memory keeping can be albums and scrapbooks. Simply capturing your life with snapshots and videos is not enough! You need a plan of action to document these things through albums, yearbooks, scrapbooks, motion books, edited videos, etc. Learn about each of these special projects of mine that I share on the blog!
And memory keeping can be so much more.
Figuring out your own ‘why’ for memory keeping
If you’re struggling with your reason why, I previously shared three reasons why I believe everyone should memory keep in the blog post here. But to sum it up…
1. it’s not something you can regret doing, but is something you will regret not doing
2. self reflection of your past allows you to grow into your future
3. your story matters, but you’re going to have to be the one to document it
The task of Memory Keeping can be daunting, but if you have a clear reason why you’re doing this then that can keep you going. Your why gives a focus to what you’re doing. And having a reason why allows you to have a meaning behind spending time on something like memory keeping.
DO YOU WANT TO?
-TELL YOUR VALUABLE STORY TO THE WORLD-
-DOCUMENT YOUR DAY TO DAY LIFE-
-KEEP MEMORIES IN ORDER TO RECALL AND SHARE WITH OTHERS-
THEN YOU’RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!
Let me tell you more about myself and this blog—My passion is memory keeping, story telling, and over sharing. I focus on living a typical life that focuses on the happiness of myself and others before anything else. This has led me to memory keeping that is centralized around intentional ways to tell these stories, share my photos, and creatively embellish all of the positives. However, the projects I embark on generally fall into the category of everyday life documentation meaning that I ultimately document the highs and the lows. So, please know that you are welcome here—whether you’re in a high point or a low point your story matters! Here there is no judgment or belief that there's a right or wrong way to approach telling your story.
I should mention though that memory keeping doesn’t just have to be for those to review when you’re gone. It doesn’t need to be near as morbid (though for me that’s a big motivator). Memory keeping even right now, for me, is totally about reliving certain moments over again. I love flipping through my Our Story scrapbook and remembering the moments when I fell in love with my now husband. I love rewatching vlogs from when him and I took our first trip back to Indiana to visit my family. I love reading old journal entries and laughing at how silly I sounded and how much I’ve grown. I love that I can look back on the birth of our son. All of these moments of memory keeping matter for future generations, but they also matter for you now.
If you’re looking for more information about Memory Keeping, feel free to continue to browse my site and this blog. I have tons of information about getting started, the basics of memory keeping, and more.
