Gretchen Rubin's Blog, page 9
June 19, 2023
This Summer, Design a Daily Recess
Toward the end of summer, have you ever felt that you wished you’d done more with those months?
Life feels richer and more memorable when each season of the year feels special in some way.
One way we can make this summer distinctive? Give ourselves recess: a daily, unstructured, creative time of play.
Research shows that children are far better able to sit still, focus, and learn when they’ve had the exercise, sunlight, freedom, and fun of recess.
The same is true for adults. To keep going, we need to let ourselves stop. We need regular breaks that are unstructured, exploratory, creative, adventurous, and playful.
Unless they work in a school setting, most adults don’t get a summer break–but that doesn’t mean we can’t use the long days to incorporate play into our day-to-day routine. This summer, consider giving yourself a daily break (even ten minutes) to rest, create, explore, or goof off.
Why design a summer recess? For one thing, taking time each day to recharge boosts vitality, energy, and creativity. Recess is also a way to make the most of your summer, and to help the season stand out. But to design a summer recess, you have to know what activities are fun for you—and that’s surprisingly hard to do.
Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, has identified eight “play personalities.” These categories help illustrate an important truth about happiness: What’s fun for others might not be fun for you, and vice versa.
Some people love to move (The Kinisthete). Some want to make others laugh (The Joker). Some find joy in planning and executing experiences (The Director). Some delight in imagining worlds (The Storyteller). Shopping, fishing, drinking wine, watching sports on TV, crossword puzzles—for some people, an activity is immensely fun, and for others, it’s drudgery.
Before you can design a summer recess that’s right for you, you’ll need to decide what kind of play you want to incorporate. Read the following recess prompts, then reflect on which style of play appeals to you most:
Use your hands. Spend your recess creating or reworking something. Cook a meal, fix a broken object, decorate an area of your home or work space, play around with paints or clay. Explore movement. Use your recess to explore a form of movement that’s fun for you. This could mean swimming in a community pool, playing pickleball with a friend, stretching to some soothing music, or kicking a soccer ball around with your kids in the front yard or a local park.Fire up your imagination. Use your imagination to write a story, poem, or note to a friend. Or, immerse yourself in a different world by watching a TV show or reading a novel.Go outside. Spend your recess enjoying the summer weather and your natural surroundings. You might choose to water your plants, take a short walk, or eat a meal outdoors.Return to a childhood activity. Return to an activity you enjoyed as a child. What did you do for fun when you were ten years old? That’s probably something you’d still enjoy now, whether walking in the woods, playing with your dog, collecting shells, taking pictures, or shooting hoops.Goof off. Schedule time to be unscheduled. Sit in the sun, stare into space, nap.Tap in to your senses. To get out of your head and into your body, use your recess to enjoy the sensations of summer. Eat a peach, smell the fresh-cut grass, float in cool water, listen for the tune of an ice cream truck, or look for shapes in the clouds.
If you decide to create a summer recess, begin by reflecting on what’s truly fun for you. Consider the kinds of activities that feel energizing or restorative, and how you might incorporate them into a daily break.
Then, make a plan. Decide how your daily recess will look, when it will take place, and for how long. Do you need accountability, specific tools, or an alarm? Maybe all you need is a sticky note on your bathroom mirror reminding you to make time for play.
Which style of play appeals to you most? Would you schedule a daily recess for yourself this summer?
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May 31, 2023
How to Connect with Others Using the Five Senses
My new book, Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World, just hit the shelves. What a joy it was to write this book!
The most important—and unexpected—discovery I made while working on it: We can use our five senses to strengthen our connections to others.
The more I learned about my five senses, the more I wanted to discuss them with other people. I kept saying things like, “The smell of charcoal always makes me think of summer. How about you?” or “Did you know that elephants can hear the movement of clouds?” Sensory experiences provide a great way to connect with other people, because we all share them.
My five senses helped me grow closer to the people I loved by helping me observe the details of their actual presence—so beloved but so easy to take for granted. What’s familiar is easy to ignore.
By noticing more of the sensations associated with the people we love—the smell of a shampoo, the feel of a hug, the sound of a voice—we can deepen our appreciation for people and make our memories more vivid.
In Life in Five Senses, I describe many sensory activities that can help you connect with others. Some of my favorites include:
Write a taste timeline of your life and reminiscence about those tastes with people who shared them (my sister Elizabeth and I had a terrific time talking about the tastes of our childhood)Build and share a nostalgic playlist or Audio ApothecaryCreate a five-senses portrait of someone important to youHost a taste party where friends, family, or co-workers compare varieties or brands of different foods (apples, chips, ice cream, tea)Plan an activity with another person to tap into a neglected senseGive a gift that comforts or delights the five senses
To learn more about these activities and how tapping into our senses can lead to a richer life, order my new book, Life in Five Senses, or download the audiobook.
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May 16, 2023
Hacks for Entertaining
In episode 430 of the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, we discuss our favorite hacks for entertaining.
Why does this issue matter for happiness?
As I explore more deeply in my book The Happiness Project, ancient philosophers and modern scientists agree that a key—perhaps the key—to happiness is strong relationships. We need strong, intimate bonds; we need to feel like we belong; we need to be able to confide; we need to be able to get and give support.
One of the quickest ways to deepen and strengthen relationships is to invite people into our homes. But that can require a lot of time, energy, and money!
These hacks are meant to make entertaining easier and more fun.
From our mother, who is great at entertaining:
Use place cards, and, if you’re feeling ambitious, menu cards.Seat people on the ends of rectangular tables, to make conversation easier.If you can afford to, hire someone—such as your children—to help with serving and clean-up.Make your own printed invitations.
From Elizabeth:
From Gretchen:
Hacks from listeners
Get help:
As discussed in episode 393, First Lady Jill Biden suggests putting up sticky notes with suggested tasks. People can choose their own task, take the note, and you can see what remains to be done.Ask for help!
Be prepared:
Lower the bar:
Make it easier:
What other hacks do you use to make entertaining easier or more fun? Entertaining should be…entertaining!
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Highlights from the “Life in Five Senses” Book Tour
I had a great time on my book tour for Life in Five Senses—I love getting the chance to talk to readers and listeners about a subject that still absolutely fascinates me.
Some highlights:
On the Happier podcast, I talked about why “Wave” is my one-word theme for the year. One reason I chose “Wave” was because I was looking forward to being able to “wave” to people in public as I traveled around—and in fact, it was terrific to be able to say hello to so many readers and listeners.I got many excellent reading recommendations from readers, booksellers, and librarians, so my giant list is now even more giant. A few times, I couldn’t resist buying a book on the spot, which meant that my bulging carry-on bag was even more packed.I felt renewed appreciation for my beloved Uniqlo vest. It’s light, it’s warm, it has great pockets that hold a lot of stuff—I wore it every minute I wasn’t on stage.Many people had already taken the “What’s Your Neglected Sense?” quiz, so I had many interesting conversations about their results and responses.For this tour, to suit my subject, I chose very brightly colored outfits. Plus with just about every outfit, I was able to wear my new, favorite, gold shoes. Gold shoes feel very happy.Many people mentioned how much they like the endpapers of Life in Five Senses, which display some of my favorite five-senses-related quotations. I spent far too much time agonizing about what quotations to include, so I was pleased to hear that people appreciate this small touch.Hundreds of people signed up for my “Five Things Making Me Happier” newsletter, which made me very happy.People were also intrigued to hear about the hidden icon on the dust jacket! One of these icons is hidden in plain sight somewhere on the Life in Five Senses dust jacket—can you spot it?
A few event organizers greeted me with a bottle of Diet Peach Snapple, a flavor I write about with great enthusiasm in Life in Five Senses. So fun.In a recent episode of the Happier podcast, I mention my new hack: While waiting for a flight, get some exercise by walking around the airport. Several times on this tour, I clocked more than 5,000 steps (true, I do like to arrive early at an airport.)I love to hear from readers and listeners, so if you have any experiences, observations, questions, and resources related to the five senses that you’d like to share, email me at info@gretchenrubin.com.
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May 4, 2023
Tips to Put Down Your Phone and Connect with the Real World
Our digital devices are important tools for engagement, and they can be powerful aids for happiness—when used mindfully.
But, as most of us have experienced, spending hours staring at screens can leave us feeling disconnected, drained, or overwhelmed.
Technology is a good worker but a bad boss.
We connect to the world through our bodies, and by tapping in to our five senses, we can make our experiences of the physical world richer, more compelling, and more gratifying.
If you’re spending too much time looking down into a screen, and you want to lift your head up into the real world, consider these ideas:
Turn your phone to “grayscale” so the display is limited to gray, black, and whiteTurn off your notifications sounds, so those pings and buzzes won’t interrupt your train of thoughtUse your lock screen to remind you of an important aim—use an image of a tree to remind you to go outside or the word “READ” to remind you that you’d rather be reading than scrollingDelete time-sucking apps, or make them less accessible by putting them inside a folder on your last home-screen page, so you have to touch the screen repeatedly to open themUse the Strategy of Scheduling: Schedule screen-free time in the evenings or on the weekends, plan dedicated times to check the news or social mediaUse the Strategy of Inconvenience: To focus, put your phone out of reach, not just out of sight
If you feel dazed from being stuck behind a screen, get a hit of the physical world by tapping into your senses:
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May 2, 2023
Behind the Scenes: In the Recording Studio for “Life in Five Senses”
I narrated the audiobook for Life in Five Senses myself. I’ve recorded most of my previous books, and it’s always a fascinating process.
For three days, I sat in a small dark recording booth, carefully placed in front of a microphone with a pop filter (which I definitely need; I have an issue with plosives, I’ve been told).
My terrific director May Wuthrich—with whom I’ve worked many times—and engineer Zach Giberson sat in the next room, where I could see them through a soundproof glass window and talk to them through my mic and headphones.
Inside the booth, I read the book from a script on an iPad. I paused often to drink water to keep my mouth from going dry and to move my body to keep my energy high.
I had to keep reminding myself to relax in my seat. It takes tremendous concentration to read with expression and emotion, while articulating clearly, at the right pace (I tend to go too fast). Over and over, I’d find myself tensing up. That makes the process unnecessarily draining, so over and over, I reminded myself, “Drop your shoulders!”
My director had sent a list of 59 words she’d checked for pronunciation ahead of time—such as names of people (e.g., Dorothy Kunhardt), artworks (Sarcophagus of Harkhebit), places (Eleusis), materials (maiolica), foods (ke-tsiap sauce).
Despite the long list, we had to stop several times during the recording to check challenging words such as “centaur,” “aesthete,” “cumin,” “satiety,” “lazuli,” “Weimaraner,” “madeleine,” and “Worcestershire.”
Unfortunately for me, I found it hard to pronounce the ordinary word “tastes” clearly—a word that comes up often in the book, as you can imagine.
Pronunciation hack: Zach told me about “youglish.com,” a site that shows you clip after clip of videos where real people pronounce a certain word or name. From what I can tell, it does seem to favor clips from experts—and it also shows that there’s a lot of variation in how people pronounce a word.
I found this phrase to be a particular tongue-twister: “park’s refurbished spring landscape.” It took me five tries to get it right.
While recording, I experienced an amusing example of a sensory illusion related to how our brains match sights and sounds. When we watch a movie, the sound comes from speakers far from the screen, not from the actors’ mouths, but our brains move the sound to the correct place. In the same way, while recording, I heard May through my headphones but could see her through the soundproof glass of the studio booth, and my brain corrected the information, so her voice seemed to come to me through the glass.
I was encouraged when, after a break on the first day, Zach said to me, “I tried turning my phone to grayscale the way you talked about. That’s genius!” (Discussed on p. 54 in the book.)
Throughout the recordings, I kept a pillow in my lap. I know from experience that I have a tendency toward “stomach noises,” and a pillow muffles the sound. TMI?
One embarrassing thing happens every time I record one of my books: I have to stop because I’m overcome with emotion. For Life in Five Senses, I had to take a break several times while recording the last few pages. I wrote those words, I’ve read and edited them dozens of times, yet when I read them aloud, I still got choked up.
The very last line of the book was very tricky to deliver. When you look at a copy yourself, I think you’ll understand why it was hard to read aloud those words in the way to capture the experience of reading them to yourself.
This actually wasn’t the first time I’d read much of the book aloud. As one of the last stages of my editing process, I read aloud all important passages, as well as those that were particularly tricky to write. Reading aloud is a great way to catch issues such as wordiness, accidental rhyme or alliteration, repeated words, poor rhythm, or general clunkiness.
Want to see more behind-the-scenes footage from the recording studio? Watch this short video.
People sometimes ask, “Does it count as ‘reading’ a book if you listen to the audiobook?” In my view—absolutely!
If you’d like to order a print copy Life in Five Senses or the audiobook, you can find information and purchase links here.
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April 27, 2023
Five Senses Gift Ideas
One of my aphorisms is “Sometimes we can minister to the spirit through the body, and sometimes we can minister to the body through the spirit.”
If you want to give a thoughtful gift, a whimsical gift, or a useful gift, or you want to make a loving gesture, consider items that stimulate or comfort the five senses.
Note: Some of the links to products in this article are affiliate links. That means I may earn a commission if you click through and buy any product, at no additional cost to you. Many of these items I’ve bought for myself or as gifts throughout my research into the five senses.
Gifts for the sense of sight:Art bookPuzzleFramed personal photo John Derian Sticker Book or the Smithsonian’s Cabinet of Curiosities sticker bookSuncatcher for the windowA nice set of colored pensHandheld pocket game, such as this or thisBrightly colored umbrellaBook of optical illusions Books of gift-wrapping or scrapbooking paper in gorgeous designs (such as this, this, or this)Pantone PostcardsColorful dinnerware such as Hellerware or Fiesta Ware Mini Watercolor SetFlying Wish PaperSnow globeGifts for the sense of sound: The Gift of a PodcastWind chimes Tabletop fountainBird call whistle
“Record your own message” ornament, book, or picture frame Hand-cranked music box Party crackers Noise-canceling earbudsPlaylistConcert ticketsOtamatone electronic instrumentKoshi chimesGifts for the sense of smell:Essential oil setPotpourriScented candleFresh flowersPillow spray
Smelling salts/ammonia inhalantsIncense such as Ha Ko Paper Incense or Incienso de Santa FeCoffee beansLuxurious soap The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert: Take a Whiff of That , by Richard Betts The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose , by Richard Betts The Scratch & Sniff Guide to Beer: A Beer Lover’s Companion , by Justin KennedyPomander ball (easy to make)For people who don’t like scented items, a lavender plant or potted herbsGifts for the sense of taste: Nice coffee or teaReusable ice cubesTasting sampler, for instance, for cheese or honeySzechuan flowers (also called “buzz buttons”)Recipe and ingredients for a special dishMints or candiesGifts for the sense of touch:Gift certificate for a massage A classic game that involves touch, such as dominos, jacks, or mahjong
Mini puzzles“Sensitive” plants with leaves that respond to touchShashibo Shape Shifting Box Pinch Me Therapy doughColorforms Silly Putty Neck and shoulder microwavable heating padPlayable Art BallMagnetic sculpture toyScalp massagerKinetic Sand Sheepskin throw MoMA’s Architect’s CubesWeighted blanketCustom Calm StripsFlexiKold gel ice packFolding paper origami modelsDonation—to “touch the lives of others”
Sensory gifts are great for everyone, whether for a birthday, a care package, or to say “I’m thinking of you.” It’s always helpful, too, to choose a gift that’s tailored to a person’s interests or lifestyle.
Some gifts have proved especially popular for occasions such as Mother’s Day—and are great for anyone:
Flowering plantCard embedded with wildflower seedsLovepop cardBath bombsDermora foot peel maskCraft kit, like pottery or needlepointExquisite chocolatesLuxurious shower gel or lotion like Embryolisse Lait-Crème concentreSticker & Chill repositionable sticker bookSachets of fragrant herbsFolding paper vase or honeycomb decorationsFive-senses gifts for him:Some five-senses have proved especially popular for occasions such as Father’s Day—and are great for anyone:
BinocularsTelescopeSalt samplerCashmere socksSmart home deviceWineBitters sampler setInteresting spices Theragun Fancy shaving creamGrooming kitCoffeeCrazy Aaron’s Thinking PuttyBonsai treeFive-senses gifts for gradsThese five-senses gift ideas are perfect for teens or recent graduates, to fill their dorm room or desk with inspiration.
Sight:Creative enamel pin like this color wheel pinSet of fun postcards or notecardsString of twinkle lightsPolaroid cameraMovie ticketsBlue light blocking glassesColor-Changing Compact UmbrellaSleep maskPrismFine set of colored pencils or markersLight box Hues and Clues board gameTerrariumFlower press Newton’s cradleEskesen floating action pensSound:Waterproof mini bluetooth speaker Concert ticketsUkuleleHeadphonesRecord playerSmell:Scented soap Fragrance jewelry by Lisa HoffmanCar air freshenerPerfume samplerTaste:Mug cake kitGift card to a restaurant Subscription boxes of sweet and salty snacks from around the worldmBerry Miracle Fruit tabletsIcebreaker mintsTouch:Set of cosmetics brushesTemporary tattoos from TattlyFace maskFidget spinnerGloFX Flow RingFlexiKold gel ice packVelvet pillowSoft blanketStress ball Pin ArtNotes to Self socksSuper-soft sweat pants Wool Buddies felting kitGrooming kitManicure setPlush bathrobeSquishy Bread Loaf or Squishy Birthday CakeElectric scooterFlippable sequin pillowFive-senses gifts for kids
These toys, games, instruments, and activities engage kids’ senses, inspire creative play, and will keep them busy for hours. Adults enjoy these items, as well!
Sight:Rainbow TwirlerKaleidoscopeMood ringGlow-in-the-dark anything Dollhouse Pop-up book Lite BritePlastic prism glassesParent-child coloring book This Book Is a Planetarium by Kelli AndersonSparking wheelConfettiSparklersNight Light ProjectorSpirographOutline PensTrick relighting candlesShrinky DinksPinwheelSound:Harmonica Slide whistle KazooWind-up music boxWhistleRecorder instrumentWalki-talkiesChildren’s play-a-sound booksWhoopie cushion XylophoneRock and Roll It Rainbow PianoSmell:Sentosphere’s Follow Your Nose gameScratch-n-sniff stickers like Scentos, Stink Factory, or Everything SmellsScented markers The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Garden Picnic: A Scratch-and-Sniff Bookby Eric CarleTaste:Freeze-dried strawberriesBean Boozled Jelly Beans
Easy Bake OvenAstronaut ice creamHello, Cupcake! cookbookGingerbread house kitTouch:SlinkyChildren’s touch-and-feel booksSidewalk chalkPlay-DohEtch A SketchWhimsical erasers SlimeBoard games such as Mouse Trap, Operation, Twister and Hi Ho! Cherry-OLEGO setHula hoop PiñataMagic grow capsulesBooboo bear Janet & Allan Ahlberg’s picture book The Jolly Postman Dorothy Kunhardt’s Pat the Bunny Wikki stixModel Magic B’looniesBoomerangWater guns Magic kitPrank kitSpinning top GyroscopeJuggling balls
When I want to give a gift, but am stumped for a good idea, considering the five senses often gives me inspiration. There’s something concrete about thinking about “taste” or “touch” that unleashes my creativity in thinking of an item that would be unexpected but welcome.
And with the five senses, we can find ideas that are inexpensive or luxurious; calming or energizing; whimsical or fine. We can find gift ideas for co-workers, family members, old friends or new acquaintances, and for grab bags—and at every price point.
What great ideas did I skip?
Also, in my book Life in Five Senses, I describe how I gave a “sensorium gift” to a friend who was going through a very tough time. I decided to assemble a sensorium gift for my friend to please or ease each of her five senses:
Sight: A set of beautiful colored pencilsSound: A tiny hand-cranked music box that played the song “You Are My Sunshine”Smell: A box of three small candles, each with a different scentTaste: A sampler of saltsTouch: A soft, light throw blanket in a deep blue
As I packed these items to mail to my friend, I was reminded of one of my favorite passages from Ann Patchett’s extraordinary memoir, Truth & Beauty:
I figured even if I couldn’t make Lucy deeply happy, I could provide the kind of happiness that would seem hollow if we had the money or the time to stay in it too long…I booked Lucy a massage and had her eyelashes dyed. I took her for a pedicure. I bought her the best pâté I could find in Nashville along with Spaghetti-O’s and Hungry Jack biscuits and everything else I knew she liked. We went to a bad movie and then stayed for a second bad movie. I took her shopping and bought her whatever she wanted. And she was happy, and I was happy.
While bodily pleasures may be fleeting, they do bring their own energy and comfort.
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April 25, 2023
How People Are Getting Outside for the 23 in ’23 Challenge
Nearing the end of April, Happier
app users around the world participating in the “Go Outside 23 in ’23” Challenge have logged nearly three million minutes outside…
When we spend time outside, good things happen. Gold star to everyone who has gotten outside in 2023.
Finding the tools that workWhen it comes to building habits, different tools and strategies work for different people, and Happier app users are relying on a diverse set of tools to track their progress. The key is finding a tool that works for you.
A helpful starting point is to identify your Tendency—how you respond to inner and outer expectations. Looking at the Tendencies represented in the Happier app users offers some interesting insights:
When we find a tool or strategy that works for us, we can apply that self-knowledge to other aims and cultivate an atmosphere of growth that is a key to happiness.
To be happier, we need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth. This means pursuing aims that help us feel positive emotions, eliminate sources of negative emotions, enact our values, and find experiences of growth, learning, and teaching.
Often, building one habit boosts our feeling of self-control, and helps reinforce other foundational habits. For instance, going outside and getting sunlight and exercise helps people sleep—and sleep helps people do everything better.
More than 60% of those participating in the “Go Outside 23 in ’23” Challenge are tracking multiple aims using the Happier app, building habits that make them happier and healthier.
Want to see more? Download the full infographic here.
Join the ChallengeIt’s not too late to join the “Go Outside 23 in ’23” Challenge. Now is always the best time to begin, and every entry in the Happier app counts toward our goal to unlock a donation to One Tree Planted. Learn more about the challenge, and download the Happier app for free.
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April 6, 2023
Nine Tips for Tackling Sentimental Clutter This Spring
One of the best ways to recall happy times is to view and hold mementos and keepsakes. We use physical items to remind us of the people, places, and activities we love.
Whether these objects take the form of souvenirs, photos, children’s art, or well-loved clothing, they connect us to important memories.
However, because mementos hold special meaning, it’s easy to accumulate too many. It’s one thing to recycle junk mail; it’s another to toss your child’s kindergarten artwork.
The key to clearing sentimental clutter? Focus on curating your keepsakes, so that you keep only the most meaningful and evocative items. (And, when possible, smaller items.)
Research shows that recalling happy memories increases positive emotions and decreases negative emotions such as stress and loneliness. Mementos are a powerful way to keep those happy memories vivid.
Perhaps paradoxically, having fewer mementos allows us to evoke more memories, because each item has been carefully chosen. When we’re less overwhelmed by the sheer volume of items, and we keep only the ones with deep meaning, we’re better able to appreciate each one.
This spring, clear sentimental clutter using the following tips.
Nine Tips for Curating Your Keepsakes:
Make a plan. Set aside dedicated time to edit your mementos and make the activity itself meaningful. Consider asking a friend or family member to join you—it often helps to have someone listen to the memories evoked by an item. After revisiting your associations behind certain possessions, it can become easier to choose which ones to keep.Give to a good home. It’s much easier to let go of items when we can envision others getting good use from them, so identify people and organizations who will appreciate your contributions.Get creative with photo displays. To get more memories from photos, create a rotating gallery of seasonal photos. You might curate a holiday gallery, a vacation gallery, or a back-to-school gallery. Every year, I put out a Valentine’s Day gallery and a Halloween gallery. Because these photos appear only for a short time, we notice them more—and then we make room for other photos, with different memories attached.Take a photo of an object, then get rid of the object. Sometimes, all we want is a memory prompt, and a photo can do that just as well as an actual item. And it takes up much less room! Speaking of which…Think small. I asked myself, “Do I need to keep this enormous desk to remind me of my grandfather, or can I keep his pocket watch?” I chose the pocket watch. It serves just as well as a reminder, but fits on a shelf instead of taking up half a room.
Choose one representative item (or a few). If you have several objects that are important for the same emotional reason—such as old college t-shirts—identify your favorite and get rid of the others. You don’t need multiple mementos, just one iconic thing. Of my big collection of childhood dolls and stuffed animals, I keep three. I display them on a shelf, so I see them all the time; if I kept two big boxes of my old toys, they’d be stuck in storage where I’d never look at them.
Frame or display paper mementos. Playbills, postcards, handwritten letters, children’s artwork, or holiday cards—select the most visually pleasing or meaningful, and frame them as art. Highlighting your favorites makes it easier to recycle the rest. Alternatively, you might select several paper keepsakes per year and file them by date.
Do a digital edit. Thanks to the ease of taking photos with our smartphones, we store far more visual memories than we need. Set aside a regular time to edit your phone’s photos. Delete duplicates, screenshots, closed eyes, and anything that you don’t need to revisit.
Create a collection. Arrange items on a tray, shelf, or in a basket. These keepsakes should be carefully curated—a dozen seashells, not one hundred—and ideally small in size. By creating a visually-pleasing display, you’ll appreciate these reminders more.
As you clear out sentimental clutter, watch out for items that feel meaningful but don’t actually hold significance for you. Two chief culprits? Inherited items and gifts.
Inherited items: Maybe you inherited a big box of family photographs but you don’t recognize anyone in the pictures.Or your mother gave you her old set of holiday china, which she loved but that you don’t really care for.
Gifts: Maybe you’re keeping a gift you don’t need, use, or love out of respect for the giver. Be honest about what items hold value and which items are merely taking up space.
Don’t save mementos that hold no memories for you.
If you’ve curated your collection of keepsakes but are struggling with how to organize them, consider using the Memento Keepsake Journal.
This journal is made for those who want to collect tangible representations of their memories, but are overwhelmed by the prospect of organizing or scrapbooking. The Memento Keepsake Journal provides safekeeping pockets to help you curate the most meaningful mementos, with space on every page to add notes, photos, and stickers to take the guesswork out of your personal storytelling. Use this journal to save family memories, records from school, travel souvenirs, artifacts from your year, or any other keepsake you’d like to save.
What strategies do you use to clear nostalgic or sentimental clutter? Do you find that saving fewer mementos enhances your appreciation of them?
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March 30, 2023
Revisit Happy Memories Using Your Senses
If you’re looking for ways to boost your happiness in the present, try reflecting on happy memories from your past.
Recent findings on nostalgia suggest it can help us become happier. While “nostalgia” is, by definition, a blend of positive and negative emotion, the positive tends to outweigh the negative.
Reflecting on happy memories can help us to:
feel a greater sense of well-beingfeel less lonelygive us a sense of continuity in our livesmake us more optimistic about relationships and more eager to connectfeel more connected to the past
Often, however, we may have a happy memory—but we forget that we have it! Because we don’t try to dredge up the memory of our grandparents’ kitchen, or our favorite college class, we don’t access those memories.
A quick, easy way to evoke memories is to tap in to our five senses.
When writer Marcel Proust ate a tea-soaked madeleine cookie, he was famously flooded by memories of the past, and today the “Proust effect” refers to an intense, emotional memory sparked by the senses.
Our five senses link us to our past, tie us to the present, and help us create memories for the future. They even help us conjure up memories that we’ve forgotten that we possessed—and to recall a pleasure is to experience it twice.
Asking people about their sensory memories is a great way to get to know them better. Even a question as simple as “Growing up, what was your favorite candy?” helps me feel closer to other people.
SightGet out a photo album and look at each photo closely. Don’t just look at the faces, but also look at the clothes, the decoration of the room or the outdoor scene. Note how dated (or not) things look. Try to recall the memory of the moment when the picture was taken.
Try to recall your childhood bedroom
Review old photographs, home movies, yearbooks, and other souvenirs
Look online to find photos of places you’ve lived in the past
Walk through a neighborhood where you used to live to see how it has changed
Go on a “memory visit.” So relax in a quiet place, choose a place from your childhood, and imagine yourself walking through it. Really open the front door, step in, and look around. Take your time.
SoundRecall some auditory memories. In grade school, what was the sound of the bell that announced the end of class (was there a bell)? What was the theme song of your favorite TV show?
Make a list of sounds or songs you associate with different periods of your life
To listen to the most popular music of different years, check out The Nostalgia Machine, thenostalgiamachine.com
SmellReminisce with others about the smells of grade school, high school, etc
Are there any smells that instantly evoke strong memories for you?
Have you or someone close to you ever had a signature perfume or cologne?
Make a list of smells associated with your favorite holidays
Try to recall the smell of your grandparents’ kitchen?
TasteAs a child, did you have a favorite junk food that your parents refused to buy?
Invite friends or family to share their experiences and memories around food, and sample those tastes together
Write a Tastes Timeline of your life–of the flavors you most associate with different periods
Fix an old family recipe
What did you eat for breakfast as a child?
Is there a specialty food that you eat only when you visit your hometown?
Identify one of your favorite foods from childhood and make a plan to eat it again
TouchAs a child, did you have a favorite soft stuffed animal or blanket?
Are there any touch sensations you remember especially vividly–sanded wallpaper, cold floor, favorite T-shirt from college?
Sharing these sense-memories with other people is a great way to connect, so you might reminisce with family or friends. You might also want to experience again sensations from your past—to walk through an old neighborhood, buy a favorite snack from grade school. If you’re writing or presenting information, think about including information about the five senses to make your work more concrete.
During an experience—a birthday party, a museum visit, a day with family members—try to identify the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures you’re experiencing. This exercise will make the experience far more vivid—and so it will be easier to recall the memory later.
By tapping in to our five senses, we can connect more easily with happy memories from our past—and in that way, become happier in the present.
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