We all see the value in paper through history. The primary sources that we have over the years from things like diaries, letters, record books and newspapers have been integral to giving us an insight into the past.
We know this, we know these things are important, that they capture memories, moments and history.
But what about our own moments? What about our own special paper?
If you pen pal, then you’re creating these special moments every single time to sit down to pen a letter, or create some pretty papery extras.
Those pen pal letters might be saved, maybe for many years to come, a beautiful record of a friendship.
Perhaps you choose to journal?
I keep journals for a few different things, from wellness to reading, so there’s lots of musings and thoughts written down here.
My mum mentioned to me recently that she decided to keep a daily journal for the first time this year. It’s become a habit for her, and she says even when she hasn’t had lots to write in it, she still pens a few lines every day.
These journals, mine and my mum’s, mightn’t mean that much to others, but we’re taking moments to get things out of our heads and into paper. These moments in themselves are powerful.
Scrapbooking or journaling important memories is another great way of preserving moments in paper.
And I think the relevant phrase here is ‘important memories’, as these can be absolutely anything, only you get to decide whether they’re important.
It doesn’t have to be a holiday, an anniversary, a huge milestone, it’s simply anything that means something to you.
I’ve been keeping birthday journals here for my kids since their first birthdays, a little way to preserve memories for them.
My daughter will be 16 years old in a few months, and as all parents will know, those years have absolutely flown by. I still remember choosing the notebook I use as her birthday book and thinking that it would be a sweet keepsake for her for her 18th birthday. It’s hard to believe that I’ll be handing it over to her in a couple of years time and no longer doing it. Though knowing my daughter, she’ll probably ask me to keep on doing it for many more years!
Similarly, the kids both have early years records books, more moments preserved in paper, and we have a newspaper for each of them from the day they were born.
Paper is powerful. Paper holds our personal histories, from happenings to feelings, and paper can draw emotional responses from us.
Many of us have cried over a book, kept a photograph near, fallen in love with a book character, reminisced with a journal, pored over articles from the past.
We like to revel in them, so this is a little reminder to create them too.
Start that scrapbook, write in that journal, send that letter, capture those moments.
What powerful paper moments have you created?