Dream of Future Memories

I began my Revive55 Project to preserve my past memories, to remember the stories, to recognize what was meaningful and to declutter what wasn't.

I considered "taking care of the past" as a project. After the project, I planned to focus on present and future memories which would be a process.

Catching up is a project. 

Keeping up is a process.

With the new year however, I feel that it's a good time to look forward. What do I want my days, months and years to be like?

The New Year is a popular time for resolutions so why not add memories-themed ones to the list?

Dream of Future Memories

There are three aspects to memories. We want to preserve our past memories, we want to enjoy our present moments and we want to dream of our future experiences.

With the start of a new year and a new decade, it's a good time to dream of the future and start making plans to act on those dreams. By writing down our hopes and dreams, we can create more memorable moments.

Choose one or more of the following challenges:

55 Second Challenge

1. Make a Future Memories list. What experiences do you hope to have in the future?
2.  Keep it handy and add to it whenever you think: 
• "I wish I ..." 
• "I hope to ... " 
• "Some day I want to ..."
• "I love it when..." 
• "I loved it when..."
3. Write your ideas in a journal or enter it in an app or document.
4. Bonus: Review it on a regular basis and take steps to make things happen.

55 Minute Challenge

1. Start a Day Zero Project: 
• Write a list of 101 Things you want to do in 1001 Days
• or 52 things for 52 weeks or 12 things for 12 months
2. Follow the Day Zero Project website as is or create it "your way" like I did it "my way".
3. Write your ideas in a journal or planner or enter it in an app or document.
4. Bonus: Review it on a regular basis and take steps to make things happen

Day Zero...My Way

When I first started the Day Zero Project, I made a "safe" list of 101 things I thought I could accomplish. By the time I finished my list, I wasn't too excited. I saw things that I would do because they were on a list. What if I didn't want to do them anymore on day 900? Would I force myself to do something just because it was on a list? How would I feel if I failed to complete the 101?

That's when I decided to change the rules and do the project "my way".

I started the project with two lists. The first list is numbered from 1 to 101 and is blank. The other list is all kinds of things I would love to do whether they were realistic or not. It consisted of hundreds of things: places I dreamed of visiting, events I wanted to attend, people I wanted to meet, bands I wanted to see, activities I wanted to do, etc.

As I did something on the list, I added it to the numbered list. I continued until I got to 101. If something was on a list that I didn't want to do anymore, I removed it. If something came up that wasn't on the list but it would have been easy to not do or I couldn't even have dreamed of, I still added it to the numbered list.

Read the full blog post on how I made the project my way ten years ago by clicking this link: https://dayzeromyway.blogspot.com/2010/03/day-zero-projectmy-way.html

5.5 Hours Challenge

1. Create a Vision Board or Revive55 "Time Travel Board".
2. Find images or sayings of moments you have loved in the past...moments that you are amazed have happened.
3. Find images or sayings to represent future moments that will be worth remembering.
4. Paste them on a poster board.

When I have attended a vision board workshop, the instructions were to go through magazines and cut out anything that "speaks to you", that you love or that inspires you. I like to keep my vision board more specific. I search out what I want to include and cut out or screen capture things as I come across them.

Choose a size you're comfortable with. If you want to keep it simple and focused, choose a smaller one. I have done smaller ones before and decided to expand to a larger one. I chose a fold-out poster board. I have different themes on each surface.

I used removable tape on it so that as things changed, I could edit it which I have done a few times.

Researching more about vision boards to broaden the tips I could give, I am seeing many ways that I could improve mine. To start with, I read the following in a post about making vision boards more powerful:  "Keep it neat. Avoid creating a cluttered or chaotic board - you don’t want to attract chaos into your life."

Well, you really can't say that my vision board is neat.

I still love this one so may "retire" it rather than edit it any more.

For 2020 I will start a new one. I will write a separate post with tips and ideas in more detail.

Time Travel Board

I am calling the Revive55 Memories-themed board a Time Travel Board. Travel back in time to special memories and look forward to creating more memories.

I have been thinking about this since I started the Revive55 Project. The first part of the Memories Board includes experiences you dream of and would create memorable moments. The second part of the Memories Board includes past experiences that are meaningful and proof that amazing things can happen. If you ever doubt that things won't happen, you just have to look at your past memories to believe that lots can happen to make your dreams happen.

Create a Memories Timeline

Some dates are easily remembered like:

• birthdays and anniversaries
• deaths of loved ones
• Mother's and Father's Day
• Valentine's Day
• Religious holidays

There are other days that are also worth remembering and could bring happiness to our lives by reminiscing and reliving these moments.

Revive55 Challenge:

1. Create a memories timeline. You can do this in a spreadsheet or document. 
2. Find dates to add to your timeline. For example (besides the obvious ones), find: 
• dated photos - especially the ones you added in your memories folders from Revive55 Challenge #1 and #5
• your mortgage for the date you bought your house
• ticket stubs for a sports event or concert
• Google for dates like: 
• Jays first World Series win October 24, 1992
• Raptors NBA Championship June 13, 2019 
• Mike Weir Masters win - April 13, 2003
• your city or town's birthday (Toronto - March 6, 1834)
• Live-Aid - July 13, 1985
• date your favourite album or movie was released
• work dates on your résumé
• graduation 
• passport stamps
• Timehop app and Facebook Memories remind us of what we posted on social media on certain dates.
3. Add events to your calendar or Day One-type app to be reminded of them on anniversaries.
4. Keep the timeline handy to add more events as you are reminded of them. 

Result:

As you add more events, you'll end up with a list of wonderful memories that you can remember and celebrate.

As a New Year's resolution last year, my husband and I started a timeline of our lives that included dates for our significant life events. This is a sample of a long document. I have taken out some of the personal identifying details but it looks like this. The colour codes refer to work, home and travel.

As I started the Revive55 Project and was going through my childhood mementos, I wanted to add dates that were on programmes, photos and certificates of minor events.

I found that minor events were cluttering up the prettier table so I decided to make a spreadsheet that would hold more information. Here's a sample that includes major and minor memories:

Eventually "fun memories" will be divided into concert/music memories, sports events, family and friends memories.

For example, on the anniversary of the day we went on a special trip we can celebrate by enjoying the photos and videos we took; by making a meal or going to a restaurant that reminds us of that trip; documenting the stories or travelling back to the location.

We can celebrate the anniversary of a special concert by listening to a playlist we make that duplicates the setlist of the concert or watching videos of the band playing live. I love the setlist.fm website that posts setlists to most concerts I have attended.

Do They Know It's Christmas was recorded on November 25th 1984. In 2009, I wrote this blog post about listening to that song every November 25th.

I am posting this specific challenge today because it is Friday the 13th. December 13th may not be significant to most of you. I normally remember it as my friend's birthday. This year however, I am remembering it differently because it reminded me of December 13th 1996 which was also a Friday.

I was pregnant with two due dates: December 9th and 12th. Throughout the pregnancy, I thought it would be cool to have a 12/12 birthday boy. With my due date past, 23 years ago, my husband and I went to see The English Patient at Varsity Theatre on Friday the 13th. We sat in the last row close to the exit door in case I went into labour. Luckily I didn't.

I am being reminded of the time before we were parents. I got my pregnancy journal out and reminisced about the days when it used to be just the two of us. Rewatching The English Patient, as much as I enjoyed it at the time, isn't something that will add happiness to my life today, but I watched some clips on YouTube that I enjoyed.

We had plans to go see a movie at the Varsity Theatre tonight, but with a tickle in my throat, that's not meant to be. I still enjoyed reminiscing, writing this post and coming up with the term "Memories Timeline".

By travelling back in time to meaningful memories, we can look forward to future moments that will be worth remembering by reminiscing, reliving or creating new memories.

In a future Revive55 Challenge, we will make future plans to create new memories inspired by our past experiences.