Let’s set the scene: you’re on a week-long holiday in Venice with your other half. It’s your 30-year anniversary and your partner (bless their heart) has arranged a romantic gondola cruise and gourmet dinner on your final day in the city. The pair of you spent the week prior swimming, touring the area, popping in and out of quirky little independent shops, and generally having a top-notch time.
Fast-forward five years. Your significant other wants to look back on your magical trip to Venice. ‘No problem,’ you say as you scroll down through your phone’s photo library. You whizz past hundreds of photos before you spot your Venice pictures.
Your heart sinks.
You see 17 selfies of the two of you on a gondola (all the same pose, same daft expression on your faces) and a couple of landscape shots of Venice architecture. Where are the other dozens of pictures you took that week?
There are only two options: the trash, or they’re lost somewhere in Cloud storage. Either way, you probably made the cull to make way for five years’ worth of – guess what – more selfies and pictures.
It can be almost automatic to start snapping pictures of yourself and your surroundings during an important event, but that old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words doesn’t always hold true. Don’t, by any means, stop taking pictures, but also don’t rely on them as your sole source of memory-making.
Read on for our top tips to preserve memories that are worth way more than a thousand words.
Memory Jars
This is a great way to look back on the good moments in a year, as well as count your blessings that you have such lovely friends and family to share them with.
Jars like these also make cute gifts for all occasions – birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries, and special holidays.
Here’s how to make them:
- Embellish a decorative jar or Kilner jar with fabric, verses, quotes, paper, glass pens, and anything else you can think of. If you’re giving this as a gift, you can decorate according to a theme
- Pop a pen and some Post-Its or note paper inside
- If this is a gift, bundle it with special instructions for filling the jar.
Every day for a year, write something down on a Post-It and drop it into the jar. At the end of the year, you can reflect on the memories you’ve made – whether it’s as large as going on a gondola cruise in Venice, or as small as giving a treasured childhood book to your little one.
Scrapbooking
Maybe you want something a little more varied and diverse than Post-Its in a jar? If so, try scrapbooking! With this method, you can combine your selfies and pictures with other bits and bobs from your life.
From concert tickets and postcards to tried-and-loved recipes, you can tape or glue whatever you please into your scrapbook. Format your scrapbook however you’d like: large or small, chronological or creative, focused or loose.
Like a memory jar, you may choose to select a theme for your scrapbook. With little more than an album, scissors, adhesives, embellishments, and a fancy pen, you’re well on your way to displaying some of your favourite pictures and memorabilia in a creative way.
Journaling
Yes, we’re talking notebook, pen, and your thoughts. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand written words can paint just as detailed a picture as a photograph. Especially in a day and age where hectic routines, deadlines, event after event, and plentiful stressors abound, it can be especially cathartic to jot down your feelings and thoughts.
Write about anything and everything! If your little one just celebrated her first birthday, write about it. If your oldest just graduated high school, write about it. If your closest friend just got married, write about it.
Journaling is like keeping a memory jar, but with far longer and more detailed entries that capture your emotions during specific events.
A Personalised Newspaper
Hey, you guessed it – we couldn’t let this post go by without mentioning our personalised newspaper pages. Some people keep newspaper clippings to remember important events in history – and especially if they or a loved one appear in it! Marking your important celebrations and milestones in personalised newspaper form is a one-of-a-kind way to preserve memories – and even better? You don’t have to clip out specific articles, because you get a whole front page!
Whether it’s a first birthday, or a wedding you’re celebrating, here at The Occasional Reporter HQ will customise a newspaper front page with three newspaper-style articles that can be cherished forever.
What other ways do you use to preserve memories outside of pictures? Let us know in the comments below!
