Surrounded by ever-changing profile pictures and constant Instagram posts, it can sometimes be hard to go back and find that one picture from ages ago that you know you love but can’t quite seem to remember which social media platform you posted it from. Let 2017 be the year we hold on to memories, not just “share” them. Here’s five fun ways to remind yourself of summer and stay surrounded with good memories.
Disposable and Polaroid Cameras
On any given night out we might come home with upwards of 30 pictures taken. Half of them might look the same and the other half are a little too blurry to use. Using disposable and polaroid cameras means that you take a minute to think before you snap. The limited number of pictures you can take ensures that the moments you capture really are the highlights. Conn’s Cameras on Clarendon St is a great spot to not only stock up on both cameras and film, but they also run an efficient photo developing service. A veritable one-stop shop for all your photography needs.
Photo Albums
Once you’ve taken all these great pictures, why not fill a photo album? Imagine a photo album for every year. The entire process of compiling the photo album is, in itself, a therapeutic one. From choosing the pictures to include, to getting them developed, to arranging them in the album, making a photo album can take a bit longer than just uploading to Facebook. But it’s a keepsake that you can look back on with friends and family for years to come. You could even choose your favourites and create custom acrylic prints to cherish forever. Photo albums in all price ranges can be found in a myriad of shops from Avoca to Dunnes or even Amazon.
Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking takes photo albums to the next level. A scrapbook does not stop at photographs, it instead takes your memory-keeping that one step further. The best scrapbooks are the most varied. Boarding passes, concert tickets, theatre programmes, fabric fragments and newspaper cut-outs are just a few of the trinkets that can be compiled in a scrapbook. It is like a visual diary of happy moments worth remembering, and all it takes is paper, glue and a little bit of time.
One Second a Day Video Diary
If scrapbooking or making a photo album seems a bit time consuming for your taste, then try out the daily video diary idea. The idea is that you take a couple of seconds (usually between one and three) of video footage every day for the year, and at the end of that time, you compile them to see your past year flash before you like a rollercoaster that reminds you of everything you got up to. There are plenty of apps, such as “1 Second Everyday: Video Diary” that will store and compile the footage for you, but it’s equally easy to do it yourself on iMovie if you prefer to avoid taking up too much storage on your phone.
One Line a Day
Finally, if you want something a little more personal, maybe a little more introspective, then try the one-line-a-day endeavour. At the end of every day, you write down one good thing that happened to you. At the end of the year, or maybe just when you’re having a bad day and need a little pick-me-up, you can read through all the nice things that have happened to you. It can be something as small as finding a fiver you didn’t know was in your coat pocket to something as big as flying off to somewhere sunny after exams. You can write these happy one-liners on their own scraps of paper and fill a memory jar with them, or you can get a notebook dedicated to them. Hodges Figgis has some adorable, leather bound one-line-a-day notebooks, but you could find a notepad equally suited to the purpose in Flying Tiger if that price tag is more appealing.
