I think we are pretty lucky to live in an age with such easy access to gadgets which can record our lives. It really wasn’t that long ago that we had to use film in our cameras and lug around 15 pounds of camera equipment to do some video recording. Sure we still preserved the memories, but it was a lot more difficult.
Now virtually everyone in the family can have their own HD camera in their pocket ready to whip out at a moments notice. We are taking more pictures and videos than ever, but what are we doing with the content. There’s a difference between documenting events and preserving them for posterity. I want to talk about preserving memories in a fun and creative way.
In the modern age, the most primitive way to preserve what’s happening in your life is through journal writing. Maybe it is “old-school”, but journal writing has great importance for those who might read it today or those who might read it tomorrow. It is still a very relevant way to preserve memories.
Diaries date back a few thousand years. In the past several hundred years personal diaries have really rose to power and become very prevalent in our society. Several famous published diaries have preserved important pieces of history that we can use to learn and grow. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank comes to mind. Lewis and Clark also kept a daily diary which is proved to be of important historical significance. My family has journal entries and personal letters from the 1800s which sheds light on what my ancestors were up to.
Journal writing and diary keeping is as popular today as it’s ever been. With the advent of technology journal writing has made it’s way to the digital age. It’s easier than ever to set up a blog online. In fact, it’s completely free and you can post lots of text and images without any cost.
Blog to Book – A Fun and Creative Way to Preserve Memories
A really fun way to preserve a personal blog is to print it in a nice colorful book format. There are a number of ways to convert the blog into a book. A few years ago my sister did just that. When I saw how beautiful the finished product was I was totally jealous. All the pieces were preserved in a high-quality way accompanied by nice descriptions of what they did at each blog entry.
Apps are Neat
I’ve been using an app on my smart phone to take a picture every day and then record it on a calendar. My second child was born January 1 and I started taking pictures that day and recording them on my phone. There are several apps like this and they all do a good job of recording a daily picture. Unfortunately I’ve missed a day or two, but overall it’s been a really great way to remember the year. And just like the “blog to book” idea you can take these apps and create beautiful books and printed materials.
Your Mug on a Mug
Creating personalized trinkets or mugs is an awesome way to have your memories preserved. I was recently at one of our nations beautiful National Parks. At the park gift shop you could take a picture with your family and put it on a family coffee mug. My family is always looking for unique memorabilia when we go to fun places like that. Taking a snapshot of that moment with our kids, and then pasting an iconic background of the park behind our picture was a real treat.
There are so many more ways to preserve memories.
- The paper which photographs are printed on can decay and lose their vibrancy over time. Digitizing old photos and storing them on the computer is a great way to preserve the past.
- Making a time capsule and burying it with all the important things about you or your family’s life contained inside is fun.
- Scrapbooking memories in a fun creative way can be a creative and artistic project to capture daily memories.
- Taking all those clips of video from phones and digital cameras and editing them into video diaries will bring more life into these memories.
What are you doing to preserve your memories? The possibilities are endless. I wish you the best of luck and I hope some of these ideas helped spark some of your creative juices.
Arthor Bio: Mikkie Mills is a Chicago native and mother of two. She often blogs about crafts and other DIY projects. Connect with her on Google + or on Twitter (@DollarHacks).
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