I need to speed up in my daily reviews.
It's not that they place demands on my time. They are just too interesting.
I generally run my 6-month review when I first wake up and complete it while still in bed, or sometimes while having a wash and breakfast. This involves running a two-day window over each week starting 6 months ago (today is Thursday, so this covers each Wednesday and Thursday). I review every day when I come to the last month.
At some point during the day I go through the same day of the month for each year since 2011. That's 12 dates per year. I run these reviews in discrete blocks. Taking a few minutes at odd times, such as cycling to the office, making a cup of tea, walking into town.
These yearly reviews can be over in minutes. Most of the images pinned to my mental calendar as memory tags have been reviewed so often they are familiar. It is a rare day that I have to scrabble around for a lost image.
Recalling the image, or sometimes several images, associated with a date is enough for this process of remembering. But frequently these serve as an entry point to remember much more about that day and surrounding days. As I only revisit these days once per month now, I am sometimes drawn into to thinking about them a little more.
The past is unalterable without a time machine, but perspectives change. Stories are completed, or another chapter is written.
I change, from the experiences I live through and from this experience of remembering every day that passes. It gives me grounding and balance. I am less stressed. I appreciate as never before that every day comes to end and tomorrow will come.
I have long tried to view life as a precious gift and every day a present. This now has a new richness because an enjoyable day is not gone forever after it has been lived. It lingers on – and once a month I revisit it.
But the days pile up: there are 880 on the counter on this blog today since I began this process.
So there are only so many memories I can allow to distract me.
It's not that they place demands on my time. They are just too interesting.
I generally run my 6-month review when I first wake up and complete it while still in bed, or sometimes while having a wash and breakfast. This involves running a two-day window over each week starting 6 months ago (today is Thursday, so this covers each Wednesday and Thursday). I review every day when I come to the last month.
At some point during the day I go through the same day of the month for each year since 2011. That's 12 dates per year. I run these reviews in discrete blocks. Taking a few minutes at odd times, such as cycling to the office, making a cup of tea, walking into town.
These yearly reviews can be over in minutes. Most of the images pinned to my mental calendar as memory tags have been reviewed so often they are familiar. It is a rare day that I have to scrabble around for a lost image.
Recalling the image, or sometimes several images, associated with a date is enough for this process of remembering. But frequently these serve as an entry point to remember much more about that day and surrounding days. As I only revisit these days once per month now, I am sometimes drawn into to thinking about them a little more.
The past is unalterable without a time machine, but perspectives change. Stories are completed, or another chapter is written.
I change, from the experiences I live through and from this experience of remembering every day that passes. It gives me grounding and balance. I am less stressed. I appreciate as never before that every day comes to end and tomorrow will come.
I have long tried to view life as a precious gift and every day a present. This now has a new richness because an enjoyable day is not gone forever after it has been lived. It lingers on – and once a month I revisit it.
But the days pile up: there are 880 on the counter on this blog today since I began this process.
So there are only so many memories I can allow to distract me.
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