For the longest time, we’ve had old family photo albums in our living room. Sometimes, without even realizing it, I find myself drawn to these albums, perusing through the faded photographs and immersing myself in the memories they hold. It’s a journey that often leads me on a rollercoaster of emotions, particularly when I come across images of my late father. As I reflect upon these experiences, I can’t help but realize how fleeting moments in our lives truly are, and how some of them can never be reclaimed. Most of the albums span the years between 1990 and 2008, leaving me with a sense of longing for those parts of my childhood that seem to exist only in fragments, but rely on my own memory to relive the rest of my childhood moments.
Hence for the past almost four years, I have kept a daily journal where I have a record of moments, emotions and experiences that have I have experienced within that timeline.
“Documentation is a love letter to your future self.” — Damian Conway
Hence , I started exploring this whole idea of self-documenting myself with the intent of creating lasting memories of what my life has been. Here are a few ways I that you can document your life.
1. Taking more photos in daily life.
Take photos of your space, places you’ve been, or even yourself, focusing on capturing what feels worth keeping. Create a scrapbook, digital album, or share moments on your social media account, embracing authenticity and personal significance. Social media platforms offer a convenient avenue for sharing snippets of life while still maintaining a personal touch. Viewing them as a digital journal will help you focus on expressing yourself rather than looking for external validation. Quality becomes secondary to the value of preserving memories that hold meaning solely for you.
2. Recording Videos
Recording videos offers a unique way to document life’s moments, with the flexibility to tailor your approach based on personal intentions. This one also does not have to follow a format. For instance, For instance, consider capturing interviews with your parents, weaving together a film that could be passed down the family line. Another interesting way I saw is Cesar Kuriyama who recorded one-second video clips everyday for 365 days and then edited it to a 6 minute video. You can watch it here. The video highlights his experiences travelling with his family and of him doing mundane tasks like driving, watching television etc. He has an app called 1SE which can help you preserve aspects of your life.
3. Writing down your memories/random thoughts
This could be in form of a memory journal or keeping a daily journal of what happens in your daily life. This could be a powerful means of recording minute moments of your daily life. As I previously mentioned, journaling enables you to track the evolution of your thoughts and emotions over time. Moreover it serves as a tangible memorabilia for future generations. That is how we can be able to savor our experiences that could help shape our narratives.
Documenting your life, will help you savor minute moments you did not think you needed to remember in the future. Think of your life as a compost heap — an idea that the experiences we have in our lives, people we meet, conversation we’ve heard with people continually transform our lives in different ways. Start today, whether through a memory journal, a phone camera, or any other form of documentation, and witness the magic of reliving your own extraordinary life.
Thanks for reading this post. Feel free to share your sentiments on the topic.
