#042: When to record, when to remember
Memory-keeping, OK to BE Older, Bookbed @ 14, and more tiny yet precious life moments
Hey, there! OK to BE is a Sunday newsletter about my adventures in reading, writing stories, creating art, collaborating, and being human. If you want to see more of my creative work, visit my page, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and support me on Patreon. Thanks for reading! ^_^
My dad unearthed a few pages of my mom’s baby journal for me, and I discovered a lot of things about my infant self, such as when I first rode a plane (five months old), when I first crawled (six months old), when I first said ‘mama’ (seven months old). The list went on.
It was my first time seeing that journal, which was heartwarming and funny because that’s a recorded history of me and an actual part of myself that I never got to know until now.
I learned that even before I turned two, I was already a quick study when it came to picking up instructions, learning dances and songs, reciting the ABCs and 123s, reading basic words, and interacting with people. I didn’t realize how happy and interactive of a baby and toddler I was (I mean, what happened? Haha), so I’m grateful to my mom for keeping a journal at the time, and to my dad, for keeping it all these years. (I’m not sharing a photo or scan of the journal pages because they are very dear and personal to me.)
Journaling or keeping a diary was also a habit of mine growing up, which I’m sure was the same for many of my friends (…a.k.a. the origin story of the notebook hoarders). Now that I’m older, I still journal. Just in different ways, times, and media.
The OK to BE zines are also my journals…which I let other people read :))
Memory-keeping, no matter what form, is important to me as an obvious memory hoarder. I like remembering and I like having proof that something did happen. That my life is happening, whether ordinarily or otherwise. Because if I don’t keep track of or record the thing, whether after the fact or during, is the thing really happening? Kind of philosophical in the way that “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” is (or even “pics or it didn’t happen”).
While I do agree that sometimes too much documentation can be a double-edged sword (balancing and boundary-setting is another topic we can discuss), I stand by what I believe about memory-keeping. That is why my journals and platforms remain, why my creative projects are birthed, why my galleries and drives are full, why this OK to BE newsletter lives, and why I will for sure keep diaries for my babies when the time comes.
BTW
There are new people in this community. Welcome! I hope you enjoy my newsletter. Here are some of the readers’ favorites:
📚 Reading
Why Filipinos Should Read in their Regional Languages (Part 1 of 3)
3 Lessons on Cultivating Curiosity from the 2024 Asian Festival of Children’s Content
Next issue: My Jan~Jun 2024 reading list!
🎨 Creating
OK to BE Older (#OKTOBEZINE Issue 20) is now available.
I’m updating my creative guides (to beta reading, self-editing, etc.) so if you’re interested, please look forward to the next issue!
That’s all for now! I hope you picked up something fun or useful. See you in the next one!
☀️ KB
Huge thanks to this newsletter’s readers, my patrons, and the OK to BE Discord community! If you enjoyed this, you can help me keep the newsletter going by buying me a coffee. :)
This reminds me, I should start compiling Selah's firsts!