Memories Matter
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Sharing is good
Print and share your family photos with loved ones. Besides generating conversation, you will spark joy, find genealogy clues, and discover even more treasures.
“Sharing is good.“ This childhood lesson is applicable in all areas of life, of course, but today I want to encourage sharing of your family photos.
It’s been written about ad nauseum in recent years: Our digital photo scrolls are out of control…we need to stop taking so many pictures and live in the moment…we never print our pictures anymore.
While I agree wholeheartedly with each of these lamentable statements, it’s the lack of printed photos that troubles me most—specifically, the sense of connection and excitement that gets lost when we neglect to print our photos, and share them in person.
In person, I say.
It’s temporarily gratifying to get lots of likes on an Instagram share, to see heart emojis galore on your Facebook post. But the joy that results from sharing a memory in person—well, that simply can’t compare.
Why You Should Share Your Photos
A family photo holds a story. It is a font of memories, frozen in one still frame.
Amazingly enough, the story shifts with each participant: Your mom, maybe, who took the photo, remembers things just a bit differently than you do; and your sister, a few years older, recalls things from an entirely different perspective. What about your baby brother, who only saw this photo—and heard its associated stories—years later?
Like all stories derived from memories, truth is subjective. And while a photo seems to capture a scene exactly as it happened, well, that’s subjective, too. Can you say “conversation starter”?!
So besides sparking conversation, why should you share your photos—and your photo memories—with loved ones? Here are three compelling reasons:
1 - You share, they share.
It’s contagious. You show someone an old photo from your childhood, and they reciprocate with a shot they had in a drawer somewhere. You pull out your dad’s old scrapbook filled with family photos from his youth to spark conversation with your parents, and they reveal they have two more stored in the basement.
Sharing what you have encourages family members to share some of their own family treasures, too—and what could be better than that?
2 - You might learn something.
From a name scribbled on the back of an old photographic print or a comment made in passing by a family member to whom you are showing your photos, you just may discover something new: details or backstory that enrich your own experience of the picture; or perhaps a surname or location that helps with a genealogical search.
Just because your family elders have not shared such info before doesn’t mean they don’t know it—too often I hear, “Well, no one ever asked me.” So show…and ask!
3 - You’ll feel darn good.
Sharing the joy and love associated with your favorite family photos makes that joy grow. You get that altruistic benefit that comes from sharing of yourself—witnessing another’s enjoyment, and feeling your own heart swell.
One Word: Remember
#remember That’s it: Remember. One word. One hashtag. One very important prompt. Help us transform #ThrowbackThursday into a mindful act of remembering, and inspire everyone around you to share their stories, too.
It’s a new year, a time for resolutions and reflections.
I’m not big on resolutions. In my mind, if it’s good enough to want to do, it’s good enough to want to do NOW (whenever that may be).
Reflections, though…yeah, I’m big on those.
As I’ve written about before, there are plenty of substantive reasons for wanting to preserve and share your family stories, from helping to raise more resilient children to supporting adults with dementia.
But let’s be real: You don’t need a reason to preserve your family stories.
You know you want to.
In the spirit of making it easier—and fun—to share your memories, we’re launching a new movement on social media:
#remember
That’s it: Remember.
One word. One hashtag. One very important prompt.
Remember something from your own childhood that makes you smile. Remember something meaningful a loved one did for you. Remember that advice your parents gave you as a child—maybe you rolled your eyes then, but you cherish it now.
Every week we’ll give you a new prompt of what to remember.
It's more than just remembering, though.
The most important thing is that you don’t just remember it passively, alone with your thoughts. You must share your memory, tell your story. With an old family photo. With two sentences of reflection. Or with a full-blown story.
Share it with your co-workers over lunch. Share it with your friends—in real life, not just via text. And share it with the world on social media.
It’s one thing to remember: We relive our memories and are transported back in time. It’s another thing entirely to remember together: We are heard, validated, CONNECTED.
Help us transform #ThrowbackThursday into a mindful act of remembering, and inspire everyone around you to share their stories, too.
#Remember today: Mom and me.
Let's start today! Your prompt: Mom and me.
It's as simple as that: Share a photo and a brief memory about some time spent with your mom.
I've done so above, sharing one of my favorite family photos of my mother Lillian on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. You can find it shared on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, too, just so you can see how easy it is!
Just choose where you want to share your memory, then do it.
You may want to copy and paste the following hashtags, or come up with your own. Just remember to tag friends and family who you think will appreciate your shared story—chances are, they'll comment with their own memories, making the process all the more special!
#remember #memoriesmatter #familyphotos #savefamilyphotos #legacy #modernheirloombooks #familystories #littlelifestories #throwbackthursday #tt
We'd love it is you tag Modern Heirloom Books, too, so we can relish your memories, comment, and share as well!
On Twitter, we're @heirloombooks
On Instagram, tag us at @modernheirloom
And on Facebook, we're @modernheirloombooks
The Potato Chip Effect: You can't share just one story.
Remembering is the first step in preserving your memories for your children and for future generations.
Sharing just one memory and one photo is the first step on a road to gathering your personal stories. One memory becomes two, becomes three, and then becomes…a chapter. Keep remembering, keep sharing, and your heart will swell with emotion…and your stories may one day equal a book.
Learn about what makes a Modern Heirloom Book different.