The Mind Doesn’t Perfectly Retain Everything
The strongest mind is subject to entropy and time. As we become more mature, our memorial capacity changes. Certainly, memories from our youngest years remain in our brain; but they become lost in the static of daily cares and other important things. Eventually, the only way to remember certain key things is with items that “stimulate” the brain—that “jog” the memory.
For example, you might have a favorite toy from earliest childhood. Just picking it up and looking at it may remind you of not only the other toys you also played with at that time, but the old house where you played with them, the smell of that old house, the way the light came through the windows, or the carpet felt in your fingers; such memories might come bubbling back.
This is why so many people have keepsakes. Those items are touch-points with the past, and in a strange way allow a person to sort of “time travel” back to another, earlier, simpler world—the one of youth.So if you can get keepsakes, it’s a sensible thing to do—they act as physical memory-stimulation devices. The thing is, keepsake management can get a bit complicated. Here we’ll explore a few ways to store and cherish items that have strong memories attached to them. We’ll go over a few traditional storing methods, as well as a few “imaginative” ideas.
1. Making Artistic Designs Of Things Which Initiate Memories
A wall collage can be a good place for many photos, though once you’ve laminated them in a safe way, you may not be able to add to that collage. So similarly, you might put together a piece of furniture devoted to the purpose. Imagine an old wardrobe cabinet that can be moved from room to room. Now imagine each section is devoted to memories.
In one section are the baby booties of your firstborn son, as well as a few toys he used to play with as a youngster, and maybe some framed pictures. In another section, you keep awards from work, or accomplishments. In a third are the wedding photos—the list goes on. Each little area of a wardrobe could be made into an artistic memorial cubby.
There are a lot of possibilities in terms of artistic crafts that can serve to both store and display keepsakes of all varieties. Be creative.
2. Devoting One Whole Room Of The House To Memorialization
Get creative enough and you may find you’ve got posters, collages, photo frames, and repurposed wardrobes galore. You may have enough of these items to fill an entire room of your house! So why not do that?
Granted, the preponderance of such memorabilia can be digitized—documents, tickets, photos and the like. But some things need physical space. So make that basement room or guest room or living room a “shrine” to the tender memories of your family.
3. Uploading Old Photo Albums To The Internet
When it comes to parents and digital photos, you may find there is something to be desired. Certainly, there are mature folk who have come to understand how digital cameras can be put to best use; but many still use old methods of keeping photos or other memorabilia. Photo albums, scrapbooks and the like are widely used with the present senior generation.
What could make sense is scanning photos into a computer by hand for sharing, then returning them to the album. It’s not hard to teach this, the question is: will the lesson “stick”? Well, it’s worth a try, anyhow.
Keeping Those Cherished Memories Safe
The mind changes over time, and it doesn’t matter how hard you fight against this reality, in the end, where your brain is won’t be where it was. There’s nothing that can really be done about that. So instead of fighting the wind, lean into it. Upload everything you really want to keep to digital repositories.
From there, have fun with the original artifact. You can make it into a photo collage, or some sort of craft like a wardrobe “shadow box” where the old pictures are secured. Do enough crafts and you can fill up a whole room. Be creative, “back up” the most important memories through digital processes, and above all else, have fun strolling down memory lane as you do. Thanks to everpresent.com for consulting.
