Your post hit home for me. I learned a hard lesson, hard copy, hard copy. I had 10yrs of my thoughts, pictures and poetry that I began writing during and after my husband’s death from brain cancer. A hacker got on my Facebook, then Instagram locked. After realizing that FB no longer served me I am here on Substack. You have some wonderful suggestions for me to lean into and grow with. I look forward to more of your posts.
I download them when I’m on my computer and then I have a home printer and lots of picture paper so I can print as much as I like. There’s always the option to use the photo center at a drug store but this has been more cost effective for me long run!
I've always wanted to get back into documenting my life physically, and this might be the push I need. I miss having physical manifestations of my life. Great article, thank you for sharing it!
i love this! over the last few years i've started buying disposable cameras (and film point and shoots but many have broken!) and getting the film developed with prints and digital scans. its been such a great way to re-experience life and to have something very tangible from big (and small) events.
Hi Ravynn. I've been on Substack less than a week and your article came up in my feed. I listened to it twice on the go, then read it. I just wanted to let you know how much I loved it.
I practice personal knowledge management and I journal. More and more I'm finding these merge into one. I think even without a cause it's so important to document effectively in this day and age. Much of the record of our daily lives are buried within social media profiles, cloud storage, and generally spread across the internet. Our legacy is at the mercy of whatever company stores that data. Where once a lifetime could be found in a dusty box of photos in the attic, in this digital age, how will our descendants understand our lives when everything is so dispersed and potentially lost?
I've been keeping a journal since 2008 and taking near daily photos, not just of 'photo-worthy' things, but anything I find interesting or want to record to the point I have well over 50,000 photos in my collection, many of which are meaningless without context. So whilst I have already been doing the essence of what you talked about, it crystalised why I do what I do so well, and has spurred me on to continue and refine what I do with a clearer intent.
I really liked your idea of capturing prices. This is such a valid thing at the moment. Here in the UK (and I assume many other countries) we're enduring what's being called the 'cost of living crisis', though cost of greed seems more appropriate when you see the corporate profit graphs. Everyone is feeling the squeeze. Every grocery trip you come out of the store with your bag and think "how much!?". Living in a small ex-mining town that whilst highly regarded is also considered the most deprived in the county. With food banks the norm; children's playgrounds left to rust; having lost our last physical bank last year; and the government cutting winter fuel allowances for pensioners amongst other things, documenting local life seems more important than ever.
I wish I had started something like that 5 years ago, pre-Covid to compare. But as the saying goes "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.".
I’m a huge lover of photo albums. I make my albums by the year. I just print photos monthly. And by the end of the year I have a collection of photos from that year.
I have always had this intention but have never followed through. It sounds so fun. But also maybe hard to go through old photos sometimes (for me, I ruminate & get emotional). 💕
I love this so much! I just started back writing in my journals and making sure to keep them somewhere safe. I need to do better with printing out physical pictures.
i’ve even thought about making physical archives of the media i enjoy online! do you have any thoughts on this? thoughts post-podcast episodes, printing my favorite outfits from tiktok, writing down song recommendations, etc.
Yes, yes & yes. I need to do all of this. I also need to organize my old journals somehow- I’ve been thinking cute little binders but I’m not sure yet.
I loved this. I journal a lot but mainly about my feelings not the world. I may mention a thing or 2 but now I wanna make sure I include daily life entries. Also I never thought about physical music like how you put it. I never wanted to collect records bc it felt very hypebeast to me in a way…but never thought about what if streaming goes away like damn. Now I wanna run to buy some vinyls lo
You just helped me work thru a block when it comes to journaling. I get a little funny about writing my raw feelings down, but the reframe of “archiving” just helped me so crazy!💡
Your post hit home for me. I learned a hard lesson, hard copy, hard copy. I had 10yrs of my thoughts, pictures and poetry that I began writing during and after my husband’s death from brain cancer. A hacker got on my Facebook, then Instagram locked. After realizing that FB no longer served me I am here on Substack. You have some wonderful suggestions for me to lean into and grow with. I look forward to more of your posts.
oh wow, losing all of that must have been so hard, especially when you wrote through a really tough time. Wishing you some ease as you grow.
How do you go about printing your photos from social media or your phone? Trying to find a good practice for that for myself. Thanks for these ideas!
I download them when I’m on my computer and then I have a home printer and lots of picture paper so I can print as much as I like. There’s always the option to use the photo center at a drug store but this has been more cost effective for me long run!
I've always wanted to get back into documenting my life physically, and this might be the push I need. I miss having physical manifestations of my life. Great article, thank you for sharing it!
i love this! over the last few years i've started buying disposable cameras (and film point and shoots but many have broken!) and getting the film developed with prints and digital scans. its been such a great way to re-experience life and to have something very tangible from big (and small) events.
leaning into disposable cameras sounds so fun and I want to try it!
hell yes.
As someone who journals, I loved reading this! You're right that a physical archive is so important.
Thank you so much!
Wonderful post! Thanks for sharing these necessary tips on how to archive our experiences and embrace physical media.
Thank you so much for reading 🥹
Love this idea! The journals look amazing, that typewriter tho 😍 physical media is awesome for all the reasons you mentioned!
Thank you! And yeah, gotta love physical media!!
Hi Ravynn. I've been on Substack less than a week and your article came up in my feed. I listened to it twice on the go, then read it. I just wanted to let you know how much I loved it.
I practice personal knowledge management and I journal. More and more I'm finding these merge into one. I think even without a cause it's so important to document effectively in this day and age. Much of the record of our daily lives are buried within social media profiles, cloud storage, and generally spread across the internet. Our legacy is at the mercy of whatever company stores that data. Where once a lifetime could be found in a dusty box of photos in the attic, in this digital age, how will our descendants understand our lives when everything is so dispersed and potentially lost?
I've been keeping a journal since 2008 and taking near daily photos, not just of 'photo-worthy' things, but anything I find interesting or want to record to the point I have well over 50,000 photos in my collection, many of which are meaningless without context. So whilst I have already been doing the essence of what you talked about, it crystalised why I do what I do so well, and has spurred me on to continue and refine what I do with a clearer intent.
I really liked your idea of capturing prices. This is such a valid thing at the moment. Here in the UK (and I assume many other countries) we're enduring what's being called the 'cost of living crisis', though cost of greed seems more appropriate when you see the corporate profit graphs. Everyone is feeling the squeeze. Every grocery trip you come out of the store with your bag and think "how much!?". Living in a small ex-mining town that whilst highly regarded is also considered the most deprived in the county. With food banks the norm; children's playgrounds left to rust; having lost our last physical bank last year; and the government cutting winter fuel allowances for pensioners amongst other things, documenting local life seems more important than ever.
I wish I had started something like that 5 years ago, pre-Covid to compare. But as the saying goes "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.".
Thank you for your writing.
I’m a huge lover of photo albums. I make my albums by the year. I just print photos monthly. And by the end of the year I have a collection of photos from that year.
I have always had this intention but have never followed through. It sounds so fun. But also maybe hard to go through old photos sometimes (for me, I ruminate & get emotional). 💕
I love this so much! I just started back writing in my journals and making sure to keep them somewhere safe. I need to do better with printing out physical pictures.
i’ve even thought about making physical archives of the media i enjoy online! do you have any thoughts on this? thoughts post-podcast episodes, printing my favorite outfits from tiktok, writing down song recommendations, etc.
Yes, yes & yes. I need to do all of this. I also need to organize my old journals somehow- I’ve been thinking cute little binders but I’m not sure yet.
I loved this. I journal a lot but mainly about my feelings not the world. I may mention a thing or 2 but now I wanna make sure I include daily life entries. Also I never thought about physical music like how you put it. I never wanted to collect records bc it felt very hypebeast to me in a way…but never thought about what if streaming goes away like damn. Now I wanna run to buy some vinyls lo
You just helped me work thru a block when it comes to journaling. I get a little funny about writing my raw feelings down, but the reframe of “archiving” just helped me so crazy!💡
Thank you!🖤💯
Fantastic read and obviously very timely. Thank you!