Keeping What Matters: A Memory Practice for Life Beyond Work

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

Personal moments of happiness and contentment fade quickly when emotional exhaustion sets in.

Photos and videos collect dust in your camera roll.
Trips blur together.
Weeks move fast.

And slowly, the details disappear.

It’s not an immediate and steep loss, but it means something.

Because your memories, distant or not, connect to your identity.

.01 Why Preservation Matters

If you have found yourself here, you can say that your daily routine consists of answering to others. Completing tasks for others.

But your personal experiences deserve your response too.

Intentional structure.

That reset energy type of structure.

When I began preserving my trips, something changed.

I realized I wasn’t just saving photos.

I was building a happy place of what restores me.
What environments balance my nervous system.
Days in which bring me calm.

It became a momentous part of how I circle back to my true self. My true moments of calm and happiness.

.02 A Running Album

Prior to my trips, I create an album on my phone as well as a shared album to share with the travelers I am going with.

I simply name it the location I am traveling to.

The important piece to this section, is that I add to the album each night. One too many times I have come home from my trip only to go through hundreds of pictures. Many of them being the same. I have learned it is so much easier to go through 25-100 pictures an evening compared to 500+ when I am feeling overwhelmed from returning to work and my daily routine.

And let’s be honest, even on vacation, we are all guilty of lying in bed and scrolling on our phones.

My new routing:

Keeps the days contained.
Keeps the story chronological.
Keeps the memories from disappearing into the digital abyss.

This small little detail takes away any future stress.

At the airport, after going through TSA, I upload the photos to Snapfish. It is quite easy to do because I already have the album created with all of the photos I want already selected. So as I wait, I relive my trip by uploading my photos to Snapfish and send them off to be developed all with time before boarding my flight home.

This has become a grounding way to relive my trip and keep the stability of my peace from the trip all before setting foot into reality.

.03 From Prints to Coffee Table Books

As you may have just read, for years I have sent my prints through Snapfish to be developed.

You can count on discounts, fast delivery, and quality photos.

And while it’s fun to relive the trip as you put the photos into the albums, the step prior can feel a little daunting. Sorting the pictures and putting them in order can, at times, add to my retraction of peace.

I recently came across Mixbook.

Exactly as previously mentioned, the album is already organized on my phone. So with Mixbook, I can upload it directly into the app after choosing a pre- made layout that matches the vibe of the trip. All without sorting or rearranging everything when you’re back into the routine of work.

I choose the layout. I review it. I order it.

One thing I learned the hard way is that you always want to choose lay- flat pages. I may have come across a folded in face a time or two from not choosing that option.

When the Mixbook arrives, it becomes a coffee table book.

Something you can grab on an ordinary weekday evening.
Something a friend glances through because it’s right there.
Something that brings the trip back in seconds.

It’s not just storage.

It’s connection.

For added, special touches, there are beautiful glassed pressed flower frames and stands to place beside certain coffee table books. The poppy flower and wildflower field pictured above belonged to my grandparents. Following the passing of my grandmother, I collected a few poppies and wildflowers and framed them- they always remind me of her love and memories that I still cherish.

.04 A Living Record: iMovies

Besides photos, I also create iMovies from the trip. While it sounds excessive, this really brings the trips to life again when I feel as though I need it most.

Similar to how I add the photos to the camera roll each night, I also add short video clips to iMovie. I favorite the movies throughout the day and just add the ones I know I’ll want later.

Nothing critiqued in the moment, just collected.
All to help with staying present in the moment.

By the end of the trip, everything is already in one place.

On nights when I feel bored in bed or towards the end of the trip, that’s when I start to trim clips. I make small cuts. I add music that feels connected to the location. I experiment with transitions. I layer photos and videos so the final movie doesn’t drag.

It’s often cringeworthy when I compare current iMovies to the first ones I made. But the point isn’t cinema worthy presentation. It’s just to preserve the trips. To have a safe space to relive what lit your soul when you’re feeling like you’re burnt out.

However, overtime they’ve evolved.

The transitions are smoother.
The pacing is tighter.
The storytelling is clearer.

It’s meaningful.

The clips don’t get lost.
The growth doesn’t get lost either.

.05 Why It Works

Without a system, these meaningful experiences that are supposed to guide you to recovery and identity, get lost into the digital abyss.

With just one system, you can avoid that.

A labeled album.
A coffee table book.
An iMovie of your favorite video clips.

So when someone asks what you enjoy outside of work or where you’ve felt most like yourself- you don’t have to search for the answer.

It’s on your coffee table.
It’s airplaying on your smart tv.
It’s an organized album tucked away on a shelf.

Closing

In a life beyond the calendar are your personal experiences that shape who you are outside of the classroom.

Just a small rhythm.

Create the camera roll album.
Download the app.
Connect your video clips.

Let the trip live beyond a certain timeframe.

Let that timeframe connect you to your identity. Because when your work feels as though it asks a lot of you, you still matter.

Preserving the trip is a special way of connecting to your identity.

But preservation works best when you make it intentional.

If you want a simple way to stay present while you travel- and understand what truly restores you- start here →

Two Roses & a Thorn: A Reflection Ritual for Burnout Recovery