Making Memory-Keeping Affordable

Memories are something everyone has.  Pictures are something almost everyone has.  Preserving pictures and memories and personal or family stories is a sweet part of life because it creates connections, engenders a sense of belonging, raises self-esteem, increases resilience, and even lowers stress.  If preserving pictures and memories is so good for the heart and soul, shouldn’t it be something everyone can do?  Why would memory-keeping be limited by money?  I believe memory-keeping should be affordable to everyone, so today let’s explore some ways to keep it that way.

Preserving Pictures as a Family Tradition

Preserving your photos and memories in a tactile way, or memory-keeping, is an activity that requires a little planning and time but pays great dividends.  In the struggle to find enough time in a day for everything we want to do, moving pictures from cameras or phones to a photo album or memory book oftentimes stays on our “wish list” and never makes it to our “to do” list.  You’ve probably read several #familyhistoryfriday posts here about making time and some tips on making your memory-keeping goals into reality.  One great way to accomplish any goal is to be held accountable for it, and this holds true for memory-keeping, too.  Today we’ll look at one really fun, meaningful way to be accountable for preserving your pictures:  making it a family tradition.

How The Way You Think Can Cloud Your Perspective

Early on the morning after a big rain storm, my husband and I set out on a road trip. The clouds were still churning and trying to determine if they had anything to leave behind. As we started over the mountain passes, I could see the sun struggling to make an appearance, and soon I saw my first silver lining. For years I had heard the metaphor, but I hadn’t witnessed one.  I tried to capture the glowing edges of the clouds, but my phone didn’t do it justice.

As I’ve thought about the metaphor and the magnificent image now in my mind, I couldn’t help but compare it to the perspective I’ve had from an airplane.  From a different vantage point, I’ve watched the sun’s rays reach out and blanket each puff and swirl. Instead of the sun appearing to move around the clouds, it was constant.

Budget-Friendly Ways to Preserve Photos

Because I hear so many people lament about not having time for preserving photos and memories, I write a lot of posts about time–ways to make time, myths about “not having time,” and such.   After the topic of time, though, the runner-up of memory-keeping obstacles I hear about is money.  We’re all on a budget.  Preserving photos needs to be affordable.  How do you preserve your photos without breaking the bank?  Aren’t there some budget-friendly ways to preserve photos and memories?  Actually, yes!

Guest Post at Choosing Wisdom: Environments are Stronger than Willpower

Today’s post was written for Lori Jackson’s blog Choosing Wisdom.

The last few weeks I have been actively re-organizing and re-decorating my home and office. My boys are with their Dad for the summer, and yet for some reason, the clutter remained. I didn’t realize how much it was negatively impacting me until I started finding a place for everything, started taking down old things, and replacing them with new things that I loved.

It is truly amazing how much impact our environment has in our lives. For example, imagine you want to loose weight and eat healthier but you have candy dishes out on the counter, soda in the fridge, and junk food in your closet. It’s going to be hard to eat healthy when you are surrounded by temptations. In this case, the environment is practically setting you up for failure.

“Environment is stronger than willpower.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

Click here to read the full article.

Choosing Wisdom


References

  1. Choosing Wisdom. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.choosingwisdom.org/environments-stronger-than-willpower/

Leisure Time and Memory-Keeping

What do you do when you need a break?  How do you relax, take a breath, rejuvenate, and recharge?  What do you do to relieve stress?  In our busy world, the phrase “leisure time” is often brushed off because nobody believes he/she has time for that!  The truth is:  we all need an avenue for stepping away from the everyday phone calls, e-mails, school pick-ups and drop-offs, appointments, responsibility, hassle, and stress.  We all need leisure time.