Not All Keepsakes are Antiques

I have to admit, I’ve always thought of keepsakes as those things passed down from one generation to the next. But that’s not always the case. A dear friend of mine sent me these beautiful notebooks and they sparked something in me that I didn’t see coming. They became a keepsake for me.

I have an obsession with notebooks. I have dozens of them. Nothing spectacular, just your basic school-type notebooks. Whenever I get the urge to write something down, I just pull out a notebook. However, these two notebooks have given me a whole new idea.

The one on the left says “Be Mindful Everyday”. It is now my space to write down little things to be mindful of. It’s my personal journal and I’ve never been one to keep a journal. It gives me a place to keep my thoughts and dreams.

The one on the right says “Creative Joy”. I’ve always seen myself as a creative person so this will be the space I use to write down all my creative ideas. A place to keep my weird ideas and find a way to form them into future creative endeavors.

These two notebooks are now personal keepsakes that I’ll cherish for years to come. They’re not antiques, family heirlooms, or things that should be in a museum. However, they’re still keepsakes.

Though I’ll probably never pass these down to the next generation, they’ll still be around after I’ve gone. My children and grandchildren will be able to get an idea of how I lived my life in the lines of these pages. They’ll get a glimpse into my mind, into my world, in a way they never thought they would.

I’ve always believed that the stories of one generation help shape the lives of the next. I hope the words I leave behind on these pages will help my descendants embrace their own creative minds. I want them to say, “Hey, look. Grandma did some weird creative stuff, why can’t I”? I want them to embrace their own creative styles and not be embarrassed.

Look at the stuff you keep around you. Is there anything you have that you think your descendants will want as a keepsake? What about the stuff you think no one could love but you? Maybe…just maybe…those are the things that are the true keepsakes. The things that define the true you.

Embrace the things you have as an extension of the real you. Never forget that your family members may not see them as a family heirloom, but as something that still sparks a fond memory in their minds. Just because they’re not antiques doesn’t mean they’re not a true keepsake.

Until next time,
Stay Creative!!!

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Christine Graves has been writing for more than 30 years. She runs several blogs including Priestess of Words, Collected Keepsakes, and Mystic Realms, all of which are part of her company, Graves Publications. She also writes for a platform called Medium.com, in which she runs a few publications.

Christine is also an avid crafter and multi-media artist. She runs two online stores. Prairied Treasures is where she showcases her handmade greeting cards and other multi-media art, and Pathways through the Past is where she sells her AI art creations on a wide variety of products.

If you’d like to stay up to date with everything she’s got going on, you can sign up for her Graves Publications newsletter.

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