I am a firm believer that it is not enough just to document your own life and leave it at that. We need to be sharing our stories with others. This could be by means of scrapbooks, videos, family albums, and other heirloom items that get passed on from generation to generation. Sharing can also mean educating, posting to social media, and so much more.
Have you ever heard me say “your story matters”? If not, well maybe you’re new to my website, because I say it all the time! And it does—I truly believe that your story matters. Even if you think “oh, my life is so boring” or “no one is going to want to listen to what I have to say” or even the infamous “no one cares,” you’re wrong! Because your story is shaping the future, and the only way we can all learn about it, grow through it, and experience your truth is by hearing your story. So, let’s say it again, your story matters.
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.
Are you in the beginning stages of getting started with Memory Keeping? Getting started and knowing where to go next can be one of the hardest parts. Figuring out what you want to create as your final product or end goal will guide you through the next steps of actually capturing those memories. If you don’t know what you’re memory keeping for then you aren’t going to know what to capture. The important step now is to figure out what you want to create and what you need to do to get there.
Lately I’ve been going through lots of family photo albums. I have been spending a lot more time at my Grandma’s house going through old shoeboxes full of pictures and albums that are literally falling apart at the seams. But without fail, whenever I go through these images or show them again to someone else, the world seems to light up one notch. Pictures evoke memories! Even if you can’t personally recall the moment, there’s something about a picture that tells a story of a past time that makes you smile no matter what.
Figuring out your “why” for memory keeping can be one of the most important tasks that you do before you get started in your memory keeping journey. It can feel daunting or intimidating, but it’s crucial in the process in order to better understand your driving factor for why you’re going to keep going on these tasks. Memory keeping can be time consuming, but having a clear reason why gives you the motivation to keep going.
I define vlogging as the means of capturing personal moments in video format. Often times vlogging is about carrying a camera around with you while you continue to live your normal every day life. It is the telling of your story from a first person point of view—meaning, you are leading the video yourself, creating the theme for the video, and editing the final vlog for yourself and others to view.
