There’s an old piece of wisdom that has been passed down for thousands of years, and it essentially says that it is wrong for subsequent generations to remove landmarks which are ancient. Why is that? Life is complex. Though it’s very short, it’s also very long. It becomes easy to forget things.
When old statues, landmarks, or buildings put together for memorial purposes are torn down, generations that come after forget the associated lesson. Tear down the Statue of Liberty, and suddenly all the Americana surrounding that landmark is relegated to legend. The time this statue represented is lost with the statue, just as so many societies crumble in due time.
In most cases, families aren’t government institutions; but there are traditions, individuals, cousins, and associates which are close to a familial group. Memorializing them in some way helps keep the unique thinking, learning, and traditions of a family alive. When those mementos are lost, so also goes the knowledge associated with them.
Keeping memories alive is very important; especially when families are involved in historical events. Everyone tends to be, at some point, involved in the big things of the world; whether directly or collaterally. With that in mind, following we’ll explore four ways you can keep traditions, memories, and more alive with simple steps that are often aesthetically pleasing.
1. The Old Standby: Family Portraits
One way memories are retained is through family portraits. You remember what you were wearing, what happened on the day you went to the photographer, how long it took to capture the photo, and varying details of this kind. Just be careful to include the right people in the picture. A portrait with an ex-spouse may get scratched up in the fullness of time.
2. Collected Video Memories
Just as family portraits of the pictorial kind have their value, so also do “home movies”. These are easier to make than ever owing to the prevalence of high quality cameras on smartphones. In fact, now there’s a bit of “choice paralysis”, as it were.
People have so many pictures to choose from, they forget to choose; and the videos just stay in their phone, or end up on social media, where they are soon forgotten. What makes sense is, at minimum, making a folder online where important videos are stored.
Then, when you decide the time is right, you can stitch them together into a long-term video of home movies, and even have that converted to a DVD for ease of storage away from the internet.
3. High-Quality Paintings
Another thing that’s popular right now is taking a picture and turning it into a painting. This is especially considerable with a very good picture, and the painted portrait may stand the test of time for a few generations. But where do you find portrait artists? Well, there are some notable modern online options for portrait painting – Instapainting is one of the best presently.
Essentially, you just send in the picture you like to the painters, then they put it together into a portrait of exceptional quality and ship it back to you. Voila, you’ve got a piece of art the represents a person in your life.
4. Storytelling Traditions
Another fine way to preserve memories is through traditions. For example, take Christmas. Most people sit around a fire and read the Christmas story at some time during this holiday; whether it’s before opening gifts, or after. Then it’s common that they may reminisce about Christmases past, and trade related tales.
Well, why not make a tradition on holidays, birthdays, or other special times when your family gets together, that a certain family story be told and retold? This is what was done in ancient days, and just because we have text, pictures, and video doesn’t meant hose old methods are totally useless! Plus, it’s always fun to tell or listen to a story.
Preserving Memories, People, And Places Through Time
Storytelling traditions, high quality paintings, quality home movies, and traditional family portraits all represent fine ways of preserving your dearest memories through time. You might try one of these you haven’t ever considered before, do them all at once, or explore none of them. Whatever you do, find a way of preserving these dear memories that fits your family.
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