This blog talks a good bit about how important memories are. We usually frame memories as a metaphorical umbrella under which all sorts of different media reside--things like photos, videos, slides, and audio recording. That’s valid, and in many respects, those are memories. They’re physical tokens of a past that you lived and experienced, which leads us to a pivotal question, “Do memories matter?”
Now is when I give you a resounding yes.
I’m going to explain two different reasons why I think memories are important and why they’re worth preserving at all costs. The first reason is relatively straightforward, and the second is more, ahem, mystical.
Memories are YOU
The truth is, we’re all walking and talking memory banks. Our memories form our perspectives that then influence everything that we contact for forever. Without memory, we wouldn’t have the ability to form language, communicate in any effective way, and we definitely wouldn’t be able to have developed a Baskin Robbins on the corner that I can enjoy during these hot summer months. Memory gives us the ability to do all the amazing things that humans are capable of.
More than that, memories are what help humans continue progressing forward, develop new technologies, and (hopefully) not repeat the same mistakes of the past. Memories allow us to do all of that.
Perhaps most important of all, memories ultimately will serve as proof of our existence once we shuffle off of this mortal coil. Our lives will go from physical--walking, talking, breathing bodies--to psychological--we’ll just exist in the memories of others. Our entire legacies will eventually live in the minds of the people who succeed us. Memories are literally our legacy, and we’ll exist in memories far longer than we actually live on earth.
That’s why we continually harp on the importance of preserving your memories. Even though we’re talking about your pictures, videos, and audio recordings, we’re really talking about YOU. Digitizing memories will ensure that those who might have already passed are preserved, and that when your time comes, you will be too.
Memories are US
At a deeper level, I think that memories are important because memories are US. There’s an idea that’s somewhat more philosophical than biological called the phalanx. The idea of the phalanx is that all of the world, every animal, person, plant, virus, and bacteria, are all connected in ways that are impossible for us to comprehend. The entire world itself is essentially a giant superorganism, where each different creature is a separate but equally important part of the earth and universe’s greater consciousness.
Even deeper than that, I think that there’s a metaphysical connection that each one of us share with each other that makes memories a crucial aspect of the entire world getting to know itself. There’s a great story called The Egg, where a man dies and finds out that he’s actually every person who ever was and ever will be. I’m not necessarily advocating a solipsism as deeply entrenched as the story talks about, but I do think that there’s an important connected consciousness that binds all of us to each other.
That’s why I think that memories are us, and we are our memories. We are part of an inextricably forward-marching line of memory creators that are an invaluable thread in the tapestry of history. The meaning of life is literally to create and interpret meaning.
That’s why it’s important that we learn to be excellent to each other. That’s why your memories are important and worth saving. That’s why I believe Legacybox offers an invaluable service. It’s helping us to preserve our legacies in ways that simply weren’t available in the past.
Really dang cool.
