Our memories are becoming more and more digital – photos, videos, and blogs are stored invisibly, relying on hardware so we can review our past. We share more of our lives with more people through social media when you have internet access. The more we rely on technology, the more we need a tangible reality – like keepsakes from our past!
No one holds a smart phone and relives the day they bought it. It’s a just a tool, regardless the treasures of videos and photos it holds. It’s a very efficient way of storing photos. Seeing a photo of the Mona Lisa is nothing compared to take a trip to Paris and seeing the genuine article in The Louvre.
New Beginnings: The Digital Age
A better way to enjoy your digital images is to make quality prints, frame them and hang them where you live. By choosing photos important enough to print, you’re placing more value on them. Signing and dating your photos makes them even more valuable for generations to come.
The digital age reminds us that so many things in our life are “copies”. Fast food is an “imitation” of a home-cooked meal and movies are “reproductions” of stories – most of which never happened. Mass production has decreased “uniqueness” which is why we should take good care of the genuine keepsakes of our past.
Memorabilia Needs to Be Properly Stored
Photo albums, baseball mitts, furniture, clothing – they all need family storage to store and require careful maintenance. The aroma of a cedar hope chest can store a lifetime of memories and be passed on from generation to generation. Signed baseball cards, bottles of fine wine, and wedding dresses will one day shared with family members who aren’t on the family tree yet.
Though digital photos are far superior technically, the original photos from your great-grandparents wedding were the ones that they saw, that they touched, that they enjoyed. Ordinary things become valuable because of the people who touched them. Your grandfather’s tools are priceless now because he taught you how to use them when you were just a lad.
There’s a difference between a packrat and a connoisseur of personal artifacts. There’s not enough room to keep everything, but make sure you have enough family storage for your past to prevent it from disappearing in your future.