Preserve Your Memories

I gave a lot of thought to what I should write in an introductory post for Fearlessly Vintage.  

Since the blog is essentially about preserving our memories and traditions, I turned to a master wordsmith of ages past for some inspiration, Louisa May Alcott.  I begin with one of her quotes.  It's a very sweet couplet with a lot of wisdom packed into very few words.  For me, the fact that it rhymes is just an added bonus.

Louisa May Alcott quote:  Preserve Your Memories

What I take from this is a reminder to record my memories somehow before the time for retelling has passed.  It will pass one way or another.  It would be a shame if the opportunity to make meaning from our memories slips by simply because we didn't think to write it down, take a picture, or otherwise transform the memory into something tangible.

I have often wished for time back again--time to ask one more question, get one more clarification, share or learn one more bit of my family's history.  I have known and forgotten some things at this point because I didn't think to write them down or record them.  Those things I can never retell.  

Other things I never knew at all because the memories of someone else were either not remembered or simply not retold.  It feels very much like little pieces of a puzzle are missing or at the very least, out of place in the big picture.  If I could just bring them back into alignment, everything would make a little more sense.

I am also quite sure there are bits and pieces of my kids' childhoods I have forgotten along the way.  Fortunately, they are still here to remind me should I ask them, just as I am here to remind them of things they may have forgotten.

Our own memories both keep us warm and act as guideposts as we move forward.  Other people's memories of us can offer comfort and validation.  In the end, our memories are what connect us all.

That is why I think it is so important to write down or otherwise document every story we remember about the life we have lived.  We can't know how those stories will impact someone else until they are told.

Preserving Memories Is An Art

How you preserve your memories is an individual thing.  The method you employ is reflective of your own voice and experience.  Some people write them down in the form of letters, books, journals, or even blogs.  Others create videos, pictures, genealogies or scrapbooks.  Some write music or paint pictures. Cookbooks and recipes also record very poignant memories of our lives. 

Every creative or artistic endeavor in existence affords us a way to preserve our own memories in our own unique voice.

Today, let's make a promise to somehow record a memory so that should the occasion arise, we can always retell and recount those moments that have mattered.

How will you preserve a memory today?