How to Make a 2019 Memory Jar So You Capture All the Best Moments of the Year
Every year, life brings us new surprises and experiences to cherish. If you’re a sentimental mush like me, then maybe you want to try and capture the beauty of those moments for a heartfelt year-end review. Every year, I make a memory jar. It’s a jar I fill throughout the year with a little note each time something wonderful happens. I try to capture the moments that make my heart sing the loudest, whether it’s a small gesture from a friend or a big trip with family.
Making a memory jar doesn’t have to be a complicated ordeal, but it can be as fun and creative as you want it to be. I tend to spend an hour or two making mine look pretty with color and/or embellishments from the craft store, just so I’m more inclined to remember to use it. It makes a lovely little addition to any book shelf or desk space. To make your memory jar, follow the directions below.
How to Make Your 2019 Memory Jar
1. Get a large mason jar. The jar can be as big as you like, though I tend to use a 64-ounce jar.
2. Decorate your memory jar. Try picking up a few stencils of flowers to decorate it along with glass markers or paints. There are no limits, here. Dress it up in any way you like.
3. Once you’ve made your jar, write one intention that you have for the year. Write it in the present tense, as though it’s already occurring. This year, my intention was: “I am free and my life is abundant in peace, happiness, and love.”
4. Now that you’re ready to start your jar, you’ll write notes on small pieces of paper or sticky notes each time something happens that you want to remember. These can be in the form of a simple sentence about the event and/or how it made you feel, or even a silent thank you note to someone for doing something nice for you.
5. At the end of the year, take a walk down memory lane and review all the notes that you put in the jar. I usually do this on New Years Eve. And if you feel so inclined (and are feeling sentimental), call up anyone that’s been a part of these memories, and say thank you.
Make sure that you put your jar in a place where you can easily access it. When I started my first memory jar, the things I recorded tended to be bigger things like going on a vacation. But as time went on, I started to record even the small things, like when a friend sent me flowers to my job on Valentines Day, just because.
The truth about these moments is that they all matter equally. It’s the little things that make up a happy life, and in the midst of the chaos of work and children and family and any other obligations you may have, it can be hard to find time to think about how grateful we should be. Taking just a minute to record one sentence about something that made life beautiful, even if it was just for a moment, can make a huge difference in the way we look at things, and giving those things a review at the end of the year can help us realize how lucky we really are. We’re wishing you a year full of blissful moments that will last a lifetime.
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