Start your own now, because we’re going to need it by the end of 2018!
Looking back on the past year can be a troubling time for people. We remember all those awkward handshakes or awkward times we got kicked out of school for not dying our hair black.
Due to the fact that we tend to remember bad events more easily and vividly than good events, when you take in an entire year at once, it can really feel like the whole world is ending.
But Japanese Twitter user @chos_bun recently posted an idea that can help us remember the good times just as easily as the bad, especially at this vulnerable time of year: by creating a jar of “saved happy memories” throughout the year.
▼ The “saved happy memories” jar in all of its glory.
(Translation below)
“Oh!!!!! I forgot to open my saved happy memories jar!!
Let me explain!
To make a saved happy memories jar, throughout the year whenever you do something happy or fun, you write it down on a piece of paper and put in in a jar. Then at the end of the year, you open them up and remember all the good times. I saw it on Twitter and thought it was neat so I did it myself!I didn’t save any money, but I saved a lot of memories!”
That’s actually a really good idea. Like we mentioned before, bad memories tend to overpower the good ones, but it’s important to remember the little joys that make every day worth living.
Things like, “Went out for pizza with friends,” or “Stayed home and watched a movie while eating pizza and the cat curled in my lap,” or “Woke up in the middle of the night and was starving and found two slices of pizza in the fridge” can be great reminders of the good things that happened throughout the year. Or just reminders that you need to get help for your pizza addiction.
Here’s what @chos_bun’s stack of memories looked like:
▼ The top one reads: “Pet a hedgehog for the first time. It was cute.”
Such a pure… and innocent… happy memory!
For those who are thinking of starting their own “saved happy memories” jar (and now is the perfect time to begin!), @chos_bun had some advice:
“There’s a lot of responders saying they’re worried they wouldn’t be able to do it for a whole year, but I’m as lazy and forgetful as they come and I was able to do it.
My advice is this:
(1) Put the jar somewhere close to where you often are, so that you never have to go more than one step to get to it.
(2) You can write the memories as they happen, or you can just write them in a bunch at a time later when you remember them.
Don’t worry too much about how you do it, and just do it! That’s all!”
Sounds like solid advice to us. There’s no better time to get started than now, and with the way 2018 has already started, it looks like we’re going to need as many happy memories a year from now as possible.
And for those looking to start their own “saved happy memories” jar but don’t have a happy memory to start with, here’s a good one: “I decided to start a happy memories jar today.” Now go for it!
Source, featured image: Twitter/@choss_bun