At the end of the day, life boils down to your experiences. You’ll have good experiences and bad experiences but you are a culmination of the things you’ve done and learned. That means it’s important to keep those memories around so you can enjoy them. What are the best ways to keep memories? Let’s take a look.
1. Get creative!
People have come up with all sorts of crazy ideas to keep memories alive. Some have painted their favorite quotes on their walls, while others have important memories written on dinner plates (literally). You can get your kids’ crayon drawings stamped in silver and turned into jewelry or commission an artist to draw funny caricature drawings. Any one of these ideas is kind of lame if done badly, but when done well and you combine a few of them, you’ll have a small stash of fun memories that can also double as art or jewelry.
2. Create your own website to hold your memories for you
The ultimate way to keep your memories alive is to create a website dedicated to them. You can create the website, write down stories, upload photos and videos, share easily with everyone, and do pretty much whatever you want. That’s the freedom that comes with a website. You may want to try
Squarespace to build your own site because it’s easy to use and there are many awesome templates to choose from! Memories are important. They remind of us of who we are, who we were, and all the amazing things we have done. Immortalizing them is something everyone should be looking into doing.
3. Tell stories!
Telling stories as a way to remember things is a tradition that is as old as history itself. For generations, the village elders told stories to keep the history of a tribe alive and that’s the only way they could until they invented writing. This is still something that happens today. The television series
How I Met Your Mother was a dad telling his life story to his kids. We’re not saying you should drone on in Bob Saget’s voice for nine years, but spinning a tale every now and then is a good way to keep memories alive.
4. Create some vacation jars
This is a fun idea that can also double as a decoration. Let’s say you go camping. Grab some pine needles, a pine cone, a good picture, and some other small forest or camping things and then stuff them in a jar. With a little effort and some glue, you can create a lasting piece of art that not only helps keep memories alive, but also looks really nice on a shelf.
5. Get an external hard drive
This is probably the least creative way to keep your memories forever, but that doesn’t mean it’s not effective. External hard drives are cheap, and if you buy a good brand they’ll last for a long, long time. They’re easy to store, they’ll be there if your computer crashes or if the internet were to go down forever tomorrow. Don’t make it the only place to store your photos, but everyone who wants their memories kept safe would be wise to invest in an external hard drive. They’re even easy to use!
6. Write them down in a book or a journal
If telling stories isn’t your thing, you could always write them down. I couldn’t tell you how many things in history we only know because some random person decided to write down what was going on. Writing it down and putting it in a book or a journal lets you relive those memories as you write them and then a second time if you ever read them. Plus you can pass the book on down to your kids or grandkids and show them all the fun things you did.
7. Use Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, or Google+
Social media is one of the de facto ways to store photos. You can upload them into albums to keep them organized, share with friends, and have them there whenever you need them. Sites like Tumblr and Google+ will let you upload pretty much any image size. Do beware, though, because Instagram and Facebook will scale down your photos a bit if they’re too large. With most of the world’s online population on social media, that’s where everyone is. That means it’s a good place for your memories to be because you can enjoy them with friends.
8. Go find those things you had as a kid
When we were young, there were things that we loved. It could be old video games, a certain blanket or stuffed animal, or some other toy that you loved. Thanks to auction sites like eBay, it’s easier than ever to uncover those old things and own them a second time. Then you have your childhood memories right there with you whenever you want them.
9. Cloud storage
It’s 2014 and that means more and more people are keeping their information in the cloud. Services like Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, and more exist for the express purpose of storing your stuff. All services give you at least a little free storage to play around with to see if you like it. You can upload photos and videos into folders and rename them to make them photo albums. That way they’re safely stored in the cloud and they’re organized! You can also share them with friends and attach them to emails at your leisure.
10. Make your own home videos
We’re not talking about using a camcorder and getting footage of your family, but rather creating a video of things you already have. Using software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro, or Final Cut Pro, you can put photos, video clips, and other special moments on a video you make yourself. You can even complete the video with music. You can save the video on your computer (or using #1, #7, or #3 on this list) or you can burn them to DVD and give them to your family. YouTube is also a great option for storing homemade videos. If you’re not into stuff like that, there are services that’ll do it for you.
