Why I Document My Life

My mom calls me a documentarian. She’s right…

For over a decade I’ve been collecting videos, photos, ideas, musings, moments where I’m happy, and stages when I’m sad – all in an attempt to get a better, fuller picture of me. 

I like to say that I’m keeping notes for my future biographer so that when I’m long-gone people can explore the cracks and crevices in my brain and say, “Wow. How interesting! Let’s write a book about her and make her posthumously famous like all the other literary greats!” 

But in reality, my reasons are far less academic. I document my life because: 

  1. My momma lost the contents of our storage to an auction when I was little so the thought of creating, then losing that big bank of memories scares the shit outta me. Now when I write/record anything I hoard it with care. 
  2. I love the fragmented nostalgia of old home videos – the way families used to gather around and watch disjointed frames with no particular stories – just smiles,  fancy clothes and cat eyeglasses really delights me
  3. It’s an excellent measure of growth to look back and say, “Hey! That was me!”
  4. I like to make connections between the past and the present; see if I can find any patterns. Steve Jobs says, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” I’d like to think that documenting my life helps to connect those dots.
  5. You never have to look deep to figure out how you feel about something. Just look at your notes.
  6. I had a unique relationship with my great-grandparents growing up and I wish I had more footage of that. So I do this with my great-grandkids in mind.
  7. It’s a good way of reminding you who you are
  8. Makes for great reference and research points if you ever wanna write a memoir 
  9. It’s like having a lil time capsule.
  10. I know that one day I’ll appreciate this

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