Monday 18 April 2016

My Memory Museum

I've come to realise that I'm the kind of person who very much lives in the past, who hoards memories as if they're sacred.  I keep diaries, I find everything sentimental, I take bucket loads of photos and pride in having them neatly stored in my laptop.

I saw a post like this on Rookie the other day and I thought I'd make my own.  On the bottom shelf right behind me in particular, here are some of the items I've kept over the years.  Welcome to my memory museum.


Half a Friendship Necklace


I don't remember when exactly this necklace was bought, but when I was three I met my first ever best friend, and we stayed that way until I was six and my family decided to move cities.  Being practically toddlers, our friendship was very much based on our parents, who would take us on outings, plan our first ever sleepover and buy us these expensive looking, formal friendship necklaces which even came in their own boxes!


Takeaway the Glass Whale


This whale came from my first ever successful bargain ($1 off), which I was very proud of at the time.  I was probably around eight or nine, and we were in some markets in Perth.  For once our parents had let my sister, my incredibly vivacious friend and I roam around alone, and we were having lots of fun watching a glass-blowing display.  When I bought the whale it came in one of those chinese take-away noodle boxes, hence the name.  At some point that day I also broke Takeaway's tail, which I remember being quite devastated about.


Anna the Bear and the Rubber Owl


These two are remnants from birthday parties.  Anna came from a party bag of a friend I looked up to at the time, and now that I think about it, a miniature bear is a strange thing to put in a party bag...

The rubber owl I made myself at a friend's house, and to be honest, I don't quite remember anything about either of these days.


The Blue Candle


I made this candle myself at one of the many holiday programs I went to.  I remember being scared of the hot wax because I knew that if I touched it, it would sting my hand.  I guess I've kept this item because it's one of the only remnants I have left of those holiday programs, which were both a hated and loved part of my childhood.


A Pterodactyl Plaster


This is the first thing I ever really won, thanks to my dad helping me out in our school's first ever 'science day'.  If I remember correctly, my project had something to do with mammoths.  When I received this prize, I thought it was oh so valuable and a real fossil.  Now I guess it's valuable for a different reason.


A Book of Stamps


I used to collect stamps because I used to like the idea of getting letters.  It always felt so romantic, so much more real than the emails we used to send back in the day, and the stamps could come from anywhere in the world.  I liked the idea of them having been many places, having been through an entire postal system.  Plus, I could add stickers to letters.  I had this one friend from school who also collected stamps, and we decided to be pen pals.  We even made a news report about collecting stamps for one of our class projects.


Year 6 Compliments


At the very end of primary school we did my favourite activity. Basically, everyone has to write compliments about everyone, and in this case we then stuck every compliment about ourselves onto a big piece of poster paper.


Kanye West Glasses


In my first year of high school our house music theme was Kanye West.  House music is this thing my school does where each house makes up a themed dance routine and on the day we all perform in the hall, and it's really really loud.  These glasses were part of the costume.


A Box of Polaroids


For my 15th birthday a bunch of my friends chipped in to buy me a polaroid camera.  I used it a lot in the first summer, and sporadically from then onwards.  Every single polaroid, Photo Booth strip and printed photo I've taken since then is in this box.


A Wall of Movie Tickets


At some point in the last two years I began collecting my movie tickets.  Now, looking at the movie titles, I remember each movie, how it made me feel and who I went to see it with.  There's A Royal Night Out, which I saw with my mum and sister, and while it was supposed to be a happy movie, it made me sink into this bittersweet depression.  There's The Visit, which I saw with TN and made us laugh and joke about being scared of old people.  There's Ted 2, which is the first movie I saw with a boy.  And there's Batman vs Superman, which is the most recent movie I watched 3 days ago.  It's funny how much my mood can fluctuate in 3 days.


The Somersby Visor


We were eating at these food trucks when it started pouring, and just for the heck of it we thought it'd be a good idea to run out into the rain.  It was.  We found this pile of green visors abandoned in one of those construction crates, so we stole four and put them on.  Although at first, being wet means you're cold, after a while you get used to it and suddenly you feel. so. free.


Blinky Bill Ears


This was one of those more novice days at work when I first met A.  It was one of those days where I felt sort of like I belonged there.  We decided to put on some of these free promotional ears and I remember her trying to get some of the boys to put them on too.


A Blue Corsage


Because I like the idea of keeping dead flowers from a dance already passed.


So last night I went down to the garage because I've wanted to read Little Women for a few days now - since I watched Joey reading it on Friends - and, well, let's just say it took a while to find it.  Our garage is filled with boxes of stuff we haven't used in around ten years.  My mum has six boxes of books alone, and right on top I found some old musical and concert programs.


To be honest, I think I belong to a family of hoarders.

Love,
M

22 comments:

  1. These are all so neat, it's cool how they all have a story!

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    1. That's why EVERYTHING IS SENTIMENTAL

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  2. This is the cutest idea ever! Love this post!

    My Life In A Tab

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    1. Thank you so much. I stole the idea from Rookie.

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  3. Oh I love this post idea! i'm the most sentimental person ever haha, I have literal cupboards dedicated to the storage of stuff i can't bear to chuck out. However, i've been combating this lately by throwing useless things away ASAP before they accumulate too much power, LOL.

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    1. Hahah yeah these 'sentimental' objects are sometimes just taking up space. I know I used to have a whole shelf full of stuffed animals which i kept way past their expiry date. Once they were given away my room felt so much less cluttered. Sometimes you need to get rid of the past to make room for the future, y'know?

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  4. This is such a lovely idea. Love all your items!

    Ruby x
    www.rubys-eyes.blogspot.com

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  5. Very neat! You always have really cleaver ideas!

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    1. Aw thanks Vanessa. But it wasn't even mine :')

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  6. This is an awesome idea, I LOVE Rookie. I'm super nostalgic and love going through old memories so I feel super inspired to make one of these myself! x
    britishmermaid.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Definitely make one!! I also saw one of these in a magazine I read called Frankie. Seriously, 'memory museums' are so interesting, because they tell you so much intangible stuff about a person through real solid objects.

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  7. polaroids and movie tickets! those are good memories! :D

    Barbs

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    1. I've always loved tickets and the aesthetic of polaroids. They seem like the most cliche things to keep.

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  8. Memories are by far the best <3 <3

    (I ADORED your comment on my blog. You are now my favorite thing in the world!!)

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    1. Thank you so much Ana! I loved your post a lot! Memories are great but at the same time they make me feel so nostalgic, and they make me ask myself the question "what if", so in some way they hold me back a lot.

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  9. WOW. You have such an amazing collection of memories. I collect tickets and cards too, but I never have the will power to arrange them so neatly, like your movie ticket wall.

    Love,
    Saee

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    1. Haha my movie ticket wall is missing the very important 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' and has only been in existence for a year. It's not that impressive :')

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