Memory Keeping – Pictures of Life

Memory keeping is journaling’s extroverted cousin. It’s not just for you—it’s for your future self and maybe even for the people you love. Where journaling is about raw thoughts, memory keeping is about shaping those thoughts into a story.

Think photo albums, scrapbooks, printed chatbooks, or even a box of ticket stubs from concerts you never want to forget. Memory keeping is about preserving life’s highlights (and sometimes the lowlights) in a way you can look back on and smile, cry, or laugh.

The beauty of memory keeping is that it slows time down. You can’t actually stop your kids from growing up, but you can freeze the moment when they had that gap-toothed smile or wore a silly costume three sizes too big.

ROBYNE RECOMMENDS: I have been a Hobonichi Techo Cousin fan for a while. For those who don’t know, it is a planner that has monthly, weekly, and daily sections. I found the daily sections a great place to do memory keeping, and honestly, some days were blank. I have learned to embrace those blank pages in the midst of others filled with photos, ticket stubs, pretty paper, tags, receipts, or whatever else tells the story of that day.

FAITH FOCUS: In Joshua 4, the Israelites set up stones of remembrance so future generations would know God’s faithfulness. That’s what memory keeping is—it’s your way of stacking stones. You’re not just saving photos; you’re creating reminders of what God has done.

SUMMARY: Caution here: don’t overcomplicate it. If your version of memory keeping is snapping a picture and dumping it in a “2025” folder on your phone, that counts. The goal isn’t Pinterest-perfect albums—it’s saving the story so you can revisit it later.