Are you on death's door and need a repository within which to keep your memories for your family as a keepsake? Are you looking to store some memories for future reference and safekeeping?
Then step forth to see how it's done, exploring what memory journaling is, why you might like to do it, and how to get it done.
What is a Memory Journal?
As the title very much suggests, a memory journal is a place to keep your memories, to record them, and then to reminisce upon them when the time feels right. If your memories are unique to you, then you should try to hold onto them for dear life, especially since they are known to fade quite considerably as you age.
In this way, a guided journal for memories is not only a fun thing to engage with in order to relive a few memories. It could actually be a key to unlocking a mysterious missing code in one's own mind when age has finally caught up and caused memories to smear.
The gift of memory is incredible, one that is afforded to any who chooses to write out their memories for recollection later down the line. Heck, you can begin whenever you like, even when in the throngs of old age and senility. It is constantly surprising what journals can surface - you start writing and, before you know it, you have uncovered a veritable goldmine of lost knowledge.
Of course, memory journaling like this might not just be a way for you to preserve your memories for yourself. It might be a way for you to help your family remember you as you would like to be remembered. Sure, it might feel like a whole of effort at first, but the thirst for new-old memories is addictive.
Why Memory Journal?
You mean, aside from the plethora of reasons outlined above? If those above were not enough to convince you, then perhaps you are beyond saving, though we will continue forth anyhow.
Many believe memory journaling to be a simple way to record experiences retrospectively, though this simple generalization couldn't be further from the truth. Journals are great as recorders of information at the time, too, so you can, say, engage in a pregnancy journal to more accurately remember your pregnancy through the swather of hormones attacking from all sides. We are, thus, better parents overall.
Not only is a memory journal great for the recollection of memory both past and present, but it can be an important social and health tool as we age.
As already elucidated, age can cause some loss of faculties. These can range from minor to incredibly severe. Everyone knows someone who has a grandma or grandparents who have lost their way in old age.
As keepsakes and repositories of knowledge, grandparents are amazing - they, after all, lived in a completely different time. Would it not be a shame to lose all that knowledge with their passing, both into old age and then into non-existence?
As a social tool that communicates through time and space, then, the memory journal is not only an informative experience, it becomes a necessary way of life. Any new customer at the gates of heaven might be calmed at least a little to know that their story is safe within the bound walls of a book.
Writing Your Own Memory Journal
The best way to go about starting your own memory journal is to engage in daily practice, just as you might with, say, dream journaling. It can certainly be a daunting prospect to face however many years of memories in your past and attempt to capture them in as many books as it takes.
Thus, starting your own daily practice is a perfect way to begin capturing these memories without worrying about where to start or how to begin. Just allocate a certain amount of time each day to this practice and get going.
Of course, it doesn't matter if you run over this allotted. Sometimes, you might really hit upon an interlinked series of memories that seem to overflow from one another, in which case it would be silly to stop just because of the pedantic bounds of time.
Equally, though, it is worth attempting to fill up as much of your allotted time as possible. The longer you mine away at an empty page, the more likely you are to eventually come out with something of worth.
Obviously, it is also worthwhile to know when to stop, something that many of us struggle with. You will no doubt feel it - when your creative juices and your ability to recall are all used up for the day. If you are too stubborn to give up, though, then you can use physical items to help you recall better.
Final Words
So, there you have it! Hopefully, you are now feeling ready and able to confront your own memories head-on.
FAQs Memory Journal
WHAT IS A MEMORY JOURNAL?
A memory journal is a repository for the safekeeping of memories. These can be gathered in the present tense for later, more vivid recollections, or they can indeed be collated in the past tense as a keepsake for a family when sitting at the door of death. Everyone's recollections are unique - even if they were at the same place at the same time, a whole group of people will remember things at least a little differently.
WHAT DO YOU PUT IN A MEMORY JOURNAL?
A memory journal is a place for the safekeeping and safe passage of memories to and from place to place. Often, they are the preserve of those who are not far away from the reaches of dusty death, those who in their dying times seek to write out a history of themselves that comforts them and that is worth keeping for the family involved.
HOW DO YOU MAKE A MEMORY JOURNAL?
Making a memory journal is as easy as buying an empty notebook and getting started. Of course, you will need a writing implement, though nowadays, you could just as easily get away with recording your memories through your voice on a dictaphone or just the voice notes app on a phone. There is a great moment in Ulysses by James Joyce that springs to mind here where the central character Leopold Bloom muses that one day we will keep phonograph recordings of our dead relatives and stick them on to pretend they're in the room with us.
WHAT DO YOU WRITE IN A MEMORY BOOK?
A memory book can contain whatever you like (so long as it is yours). However, as the title suggests, a memory book is most often the place to keep memories for various reasons.
