Breathe, Just Breathe...

It’s incredibly easy to get sucked into the resolution game this time of year. We’re all looking for ways to do better, be better, look better or feel better as we turn the page on a new year.

There are diets to follow and habits to be made, but it’s not always easy to keep up. In fact, more than two thirds of the way into January, you might’ve already moved on from your initial goals of the year. There’s no shame in that. We’ve all been there.

Being your best self doesn’t have to mean making drastic changes. Maybe you could benefit from practicing a bit of mindfulness and leaning into all you’ve done and seen up to this point?

Here are a handful of ideas for celebrating all that’s made you who you are as you take on a new year with surprises ahead:

• Write down a short list of places you’ve visited and what made you most happy while you were there. At a time when most of us are not traveling like we usually do, think about the impact those trips (be they for work or play) had on your perspective of the world.

• Jot down the names of three people you’d like to call or write a letter to in the next two weeks. What do you want to say to them? Now set the time aside to make the call or write the letter. Put it on your calendar if you’re afraid you might forget or declare you’re too busy.

• Choose a book you’ve had for a while and never read. Commit to reading a little each day, even if you start with just one page before bed.

• Go through that junk drawer -- you know the one -- rifle through the loose batteries, and post-it notepads, test the pens to see which ones actually still work, put your checkbook in a more responsible place. Just take the time to address something small and realize the impact even a little bit of organization can have on your mindset.

• Breathe. We know it sounds silly. You breathe all the time without thinking about it, but try thinking about it for once. Whatever you’re doing, whether it’s a new workout or just having a cup of coffee on your couch, stop for a few beats and focus on your breaths. Recognize how many millions of breaths you’ve taken without notice -- how many significant moments in which your body has carried on with its responsibility of breathing without any effort. Just breathe.

Maybe you’ll finish reading this and get right back to the resolution work you’ve started. Maybe you’ll do one or two of these and that’s it. Maybe you’ll do the whole list. We’re not keeping tabs. We’re just hoping this new year has been and will continue to be one that reminds you to delight in all the moments that make your life.

Memories In Writing is always here to help you and your loved ones track those moments. Maybe you’re ready to start recording what you’ve experienced or maybe you want to help your mom or dad get started. Either way, we have our Captured Memories Workbook and MIW Online solutions that make it easy and we’re excited to help you get started.

Don’t Let the Memories of 2020 fade...

When you look back on the 2020 holiday season, how will you remember it? Is this the year you had to create new traditions at home instead of traveling to be with extended family? Maybe it’s the year you finally took on online shopping for gifts.

This season is a cap on a year of challenge and change. It’s almost like anticipation for something better is the official motto of New Years Eve 2020. As we find ways to make the most wonderful time of year magical in its own 2020 way, many of us will look ahead in hope that we’ll soon return to normalcy. We’ve all experienced this year in our own ways, but there’s been a collective sigh of despair for moments and loved ones missed.

This is the year our kids tackled digital learning and our doctors and nurses worked overtime seemingly nonstop. It’s the year we wore masks to gather with our friends and neighbors or skipped traditional gatherings altogether. For some of us, it’ll be the first year a familiar face won’t be at the table.

One thing is certain, the challenges won’t end when the clock strikes midnight on New Years Eve, but there is hope and promise that we’ll one day resume those big holiday celebrations and the baby showers and birthday parties we missed along the way. Before long, we’ll likely walk into grocery stores and smile at strangers without masks on our faces. Like those who survived the 1918 pandemic, we’ll come out on the other side of this with stories to tell. We’ll each have our own ways we rose to the occasion during a hard time.

We are living in our history. What you experience today isn’t just your own story. It’s our collective history and now, possibly more than ever, our individual experiences as we’ve huddled safely in our homes or gathered in small groups with extra safety precautions are part of the collective tale of how we got through. Just as the stories from the 1918 flu helped many of us navigate a pandemic, ours will help future generations.

Regardless of what you’ve done, seen and heard this year, your story will help future generations understand the tenacity and fortitude of this particular moment in our lives.

If anything, 2020 has been a pause; a moment to breathe and reevaluate what’s important.

So while it may be good riddance to many of the things that made this year hard, let’s not trash the growth we’ve known and the memories made.

Let’s record our stories. Memories in Writing is here to help you share your unique experience with loved ones for years to come. Don’t Let the Memories of 2020 fade; start recording or writing your story today!

Memories in Amber: Preserving Nostalgia

What is it about nostalgia that casts everything with a rosy glow?

The great songstress Joni Mitchell once said, “you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” All too often, it seems that we can’t fully appreciate what we have until we no longer have it. We cherish the past and bemoan the present. Sometimes, we may even find ourselves entering the memories of times gone by to escape from today.

But recalling memories isn’t just a form of personal escapism. Reminiscing is a bonding exercise for older generations and a method of instruction for future ones. Maybe that means spending thanksgiving swapping stories about the good old days. Or perhaps it means sharing the tales with a new listener for the very first time: “you never knew your grandmother, but when she was your age…”

Memories, both positive and negative, are precious and unique. One person’s recollection will never be precisely the same as another’s, even if both were present during the same era or event. Memory is more than just a historical statement of fact; it’s a reflection of individual perception.

That’s why reading a researched historical account is different from reading an ancestor’s personal journals. One is an objective account of events, the other is a glimpse of the lens through which your predecessor viewed the world around them.

And that brief glimpse into that lens of the past is invaluable—all the more so if it comes from someone you know and love. There have never been memories exactly like theirs before, and there never will be one again. Like heirlooms, the value of memories grows with age. Physical artifacts can be memorialized, encased in glass, put in a museum, and preserved for generations to come. Can the same be said of memories?

Fortunately, the answer is yes. It is possible to preserve the treasured memories of your loved ones so they can be shared with and cherished by future generations. Whether you are capturing the memories in a physical or digital format, Memories in Writing can help you memorialize these snapshots of the past.

Memories in Writing provides you with a memento that will last a lifetime. Like a fossil suspended in amber, our products are designed to perfectly preserve the past—the way you or your loved one remembers it. To give the gift of memory, here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Think about the kinds of memories you want to evoke. Are they happy memories? Sad ones? Bittersweet? The answer can change the way we go about trying to tell the story.

• How are the stories told? Are they shared family memories that your uncle has a knack for telling just the right way? Or are they memories from long ago when your grandmother was a child?

• What period are the memories from? Drawing out older memories can be more intensive and detailed than more recent memories.

Remember that memories are more than just a story. They are a legacy! Let’s handle them with care and compassion so that they can live on as they should. Reach out today to get started.