PART 1-What were the moments of 2017 you felt most like the person you wanted to be?
You know those people who print photo books every year of their kids, all the important milestones, family vacations and have them filed in chronological order by child...probably using the Dewey Decimal System in their home library?
Well, I'm not one of those people.
I take a ton of pictures, but do nothing with them.
I pin all the crafty memory things & let them stay on the inter-webs.
I have boxes with 12 years worth of memories-show tickets, event pamphlets, wrist bands etc with Jimmy and 6 years worth with Santi (+Jimmy). They're currently serving the purpose of giving life to my most expensive shoe boxes...because who wants to throw those away?!
Something changed a few years ago when I learned that memories are made stronger or weaker based on how frequently you retrieve them from your brain. Think about it...it totally makes sense!
Did you ever have an uncle who would tell the same stories over and over again at Christmas dinner? It's because what he was remembering was the last time he told the story NOT the actual memory. Just like anything else, more frequent use of a muscle makes it stronger & the use of our memory muscle makes the association to the memory stronge. The stronger the memory, the easier it will be to find in the future. I know as much as I want to remember all the memories, I never will (which is why #santisims are a thing)
I've also read about the idea that greater happiness & joy is found in an event (vacation, holiday etc) if you anticipate it leading up to the event and then also reminisce about it afterward...enjoying during the event is obvious.
Anyway - after I read these fun facts, I realized I wanted to strengthen the memories we had made & not let them die in my Gucci shoe box. So I started doing 2 things over the past few years to help accomplish this goal:
1. iMovie - For every trip, vacation & major holiday I make a movie full of short clips and pictures. They usually end up being somewhere between 5-10 minutes & are a bunch of randomness sure to make you smile in subsequent viewings. Here are a few topics I've done movies on:
- Family Vacations - These are always so fun to look back on!
- Winter Break/Christmas - Always makes me wonder how we can accomplish so much in a few weeks when any other time of year I feel like I'm moving at a snails' pace
- Family Get Togethers - Last year I learned how to make a special family recipe & put together a movie of the process. The movie served as a live tutorial, but much more importantly memories of my Aunt Jean who passed away this past September.
- Night before birthday interviews - I call it, "Last thoughts as a x year old" (These are only for Santi...not Jimmy or me, although that might be funny too).
- ...or just really random, fun things like your kid's reaction to his first roller coaster ride or random laughs with Dada...just things that will always make you smile!
This might seem intimidating, but I don't make them fancy & it's super easy (if you want it to be). I do the most basic video but it's always so fun to go back to watch them & it does exactly what it is intended to do. Help us remember all the fun, small moments & random, seemingly boring stuff that actually wasn't when you look back on it. In fact, it’s not boring at all; it’s amazing.
2. 1SE (1 second everyday) - 2017 was my first attempt at capturing 1 second of my day, everyday for a year. I didn't quite achieve that goal, but did end up with a second for ~2/3 of the year. This is super easy and so fun to watch throughout the process and at the end.
The thing that's really cool about watching our 2017 version of 1SE is it sparks way more memories than the ~220 seconds of the year captured in the video.
1SE is actually what has allowed me to reflect on & answer the question:
“What were the moments of 2017 where I felt most like the person I want to be?”
The question was posed during a lesson about empathy, listening & feeling...all of this in service to being a lover - a lover of God & a lover of others. Being a lover is understanding what I have to offer that God can multiply beyond what I’m capable of alone. It’s also choosing to feel + connect instead of responding or judging. It’s being able to pour these multipliers into others. So now, I reflect on 2017 through seconds to discover those moments to see if I can uncover more about the person I want to be.
More on that in a later post, but in the meantime-I highly encourage you to document your days and year with the intent of creating stronger memories and offering a means for future reflection whether through 1SE or a handwritten journal.
I’ve never been upset with myself for reflecting or documenting too much! I’d love to learn from you - How do you capture memories, lessons or reflections?
-k