Stuff & Nonsense
Who’s got stuff?
Me too.
So much stuff! But this week we begin talking about SIX Extras that I have used, evolved and loved for years that can help you reign in memorabilia! I’m excited to show you what they are and how they work—so excited that our video this week clocks in at 40 minutes long—😳—you’ll likely need a BIG bowl of popcorn and perhaps an intermission! But that’s not all. Our bonus project this week is School of Life and I’ve also posted 2 videos from my 20in20 course last year: Look for the Favorite Projects video (from April) and the Tip Video (from June) to learn all about this sanity-saving solution—PLUS, there’s a worksheet you can download that outlines my current School of Life approach.
In the video I showed you the small Kodak instruction manual that my grandfather (thankfully) saved. I LOVE this little ephemeral piece of the past because (like he did) I have picked up the torch as family photographer AND keeper of “all the stuff.” Memorabilia can be a telling and textural connection to people, places and things and WE CAN store and access it effectively—I promise!
In this lesson I introduce you to additional LOM Extras designed to help you collect and keep safe the stuff you value …
Memorabilia File
School of Life File
Family Tree Drawers
Cultural Memorabilia Box
Travel Pouch
Materials File
If you haven’t yet, visit our Supplies post for examples (and links) to products that may work for you in the role of Extras!
“My life is cluttered with the most wonderful memorabilia. And wonderful creative experiences.”
➡️ Week 11 Tasks
Set an EQ for memorabilia right now and for the rest of this year. Depending on what you’ve saved, all this stuff can be as overwhelming as the photos. For this reason, I want you to think about what you have the interest and ability to begin now and what you might want to accomplish by year’s end.
Decide which (if any) of the Extras introduced this week will be a solution for you and take an initial step to add it to your system.
Locate and SHARE an interesting or personally meaningful piece of memorabilia this week. You can do this by simply showing it to someone you live with, or by taking a picture and texting it to a family member or posting it to social media—YOU could even make scrapbook page—whatever you decide to do, explain why this item is something you’ve chosen to save.
School of Life 🍎
If you would like to document your own childhood/school years OR those for a child you love, the School of Life file and album(s) project is a HUGE solution. In the videos below you’ll seen what I’ve done (and recognize what I still need to do) AND you’ll hopefully find encouragement and application for your own ambitions. The concept is a chronological highlights story that leverages the structure of a school year to document each year of a child’s life. The secret is to outline a specific format and then stick to it, year after year. How many pages (what size, shape and style) will you create per child, per year and what is the purpose of those pages? When you know the answers to these questions—ahead of time—they become design and content rails that result in an interesting and doable outcome.
Printable Handouts 🖨
In 2016, I traveled with my mother to Campbellsport, Wisconsin, in the town where her father, James McDougal grew up.
Trust me when I say I have a LOT of work to do when it comes to memorabilia, but because I have a Family Tree Drawer for Grandpa McDougal, I was able to put my hands on a letter addressed to him in 1934.
📬 No address needed!
I took this letter with me to Wisconsin, so I could take this photo 82 years after it first arrived.
As you dive in this week, remember that even a familiarity with WHAT you have is a fantastic start that allows you to learn and do so much more!
p.s. IF you’d like to gather some really great and useful information about grandparents or any other living relatives, CLICK HERE to download a Family Information Sheet to print and send out!
