june0305-demo-sidestory

I had kept a paper journal for years, but I didn’t draw in it

Other journaling friends would swear to me,

“Draw in your journal!

You’ll remember the moment better!”

But I was so skeptical.

The friends who told me to do this always had journals that looked like this:

And I was like, OK sure, if I could draw like this on a daily basis, maybe I’d feel the same way

But I can’t, so why draw in my journal? What would it add?

Wouldn’t my bad drawings

be strictly less helpful than even a bad photo?

but then this year I tried it and

I get it now 🥲

(pen & paper, YOU GOT ME AGAIN!!!)

These drawings are not photo-realistic. There are mistakes everywhere.

Davis noticed I tend to draw my memories in 3rd person. So I’m not even drawing anything I’ve physically seen before.

But they flood me with memories, in a more intimate way than viewing photos alone.

(it’s not an either/or;

it’s a consideration

for all options)

A recent quote from a friend:

“2025

I rediscovered forgotten treasures

in old boxes, prompting a wave of nostalgia.

Makes you wonder what % of your life memories

you could retrieve given the right key.”

— an email from friend Gregor

These drawings serve as keys into my memories

in addition to “records” of the memories themselves