Master your memory keeping

Master your memory keeping

Journal, photos, photo book, memories, legacy

Do you want to keep a record of the family stories that match your photos, but just don’t know where to start?

Today I want to share just one of many tools that can help you to curate your story along side of the photos you’re taking.  Quick caveat and reminder that no app or program is the best place for your photos and this cannot and should not replace a Digital Photo Hub (DPH) and using a 3-2-1 back up method.  This is just a tool that can help make recording the stories that go with your photos easier.

Let’s start with quick recap of what “story” means.  The dictionary tells us that it is a noun;

an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment

synonyms:  tale. narrative, account, anecdote, chronicle, history, yarn, spiel

How evocative are those synonyms? Narrative is my favourite!

Obviously, you’re looking to capture your story as a real person, unless of course the story is about your child’s imaginary friend… Jo’s youngest has one named Stella 😊

Breaking the definition down further, it tells us that a story is an account of events. The first and most obvious events that will be easiest for you to include in your stories are milestones like birthdays, weddings, parties, first days at school, holidays and adventures. But events can also include the everyday moments that shape our lives and I promise it will get easier to include these elements the more you practice.

Finally, the definition talks about telling stories for entertainment.  Now no one is expecting you to have the writing skills of a bestselling novelist. Besides the most engaging story-keeping is created in your own unique style and voice. Just be yourself and write just like you would speak – you can’t go wrong. Especially if you are curating the stories for your children the last thing you want is for them to read it years later and not be able to recognise your ‘voice’.

If you were faced with an emergency situation (bush fire, flood etc) or worse still, your memory starts to fail, and your story was about to be lost, would you consider paying every cent you have and more to save your precious memories? Most people we speak to agree that their photos and memorabilia are irreplaceable and priceless! Given that you have read this far, I am confident that you understand how important taking care of your precious memories is.

I guess you are wondering HOW we recommend you get started.  If you’re like most people, you’re overwhelmed by the number of photos you have and the thought of this kind of projects has you wishing you had the TIME!

Cue the greatest time saver of our modern day – the internet. As the saying goes now days, “there’s an app for that”.

The Legacy of Love App

is a great memory keeping tool that I have been using to curate the stories of our family life directly alongside of the photos I am taking of those moments. It is available on mobile as an app and on desktop, so I’m able to do it in a timely way before I forget and they’ve got great reminders to prompt me if I fall behind in my journal entries! Friends of The Filing Fairies can use the code FFAU2020  at checkout to get a 20% discount off any of the paid subscription plans (there is a slight glitch in the phone number you will need to enter it as 1111111111 outside the USA when you sign up until the international number catcher is fixed).

It has 3 great sections – memories, interviews and milestones and this short video gives you a little tour of them in use!

You can start using this RIGHT NOW and in the video I will show you how easy it is to also use it to back date your stories.

Another function I love it that you can use video – so if you are finding it hard to get the words on paper you can just hit record!

My biggest takeaway here is that you can draw the line in the sand – don’t let the stress or overwhelm of the memories from the past that you haven’t already preserved stop you from getting started starting NOW. Then stick to it – Legacy of Love has a built in reminder system to keep you on track and together we can come up with a plan for you to tackle your historical collection.

Again remember you should still be getting your photos into your DPH so that they can be backed up and software independent.

In the comments below, let me know if you are going to get started with Legacy of Love or use another tool or method, we know there are many out there!

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Until next time

Have a magical day

Mara

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