Did you know that your life experiences, from simple to monumental, are worth gathering, curating and sharing with those that love you? Well, they are! Each week I share bits and bobs from my studio on how I'm working to make it easier for you to find the time, tools and motivation to preserve and share your family stories and photographs.
🗒️ Notes from the Studio - September 11, 2026 🗽
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Hey there friends! Hello on this somber day of remembrance for our nation. I was going to write about something else today, but with this being the 25th (!) anniversary of a horrible day for our nation, I decided to remind you once again how important it is to write down your own memories and personal reflections. My son asked me the other day if I realized that he had started college 25 years ago this month. I’m still processing that, because even though he’s a grown father of 2 in his 40s, in my mind he is STILL college age. And I’m the one in my 40s. 🤣 But part of my memories from September 11, 2001 is a frantic phone call from my college freshman son. 25 years ago. I was at work and we were all desperately trying to figure out what had happened. Internet browsers and connectivity were still in the early phases of development, and we quickly found out that the internet browers or just our local server had evidently crashed. The only reason we knew anything had happened was because a co-worker was running late that morning and had heard on his car radio about the first tower being hit. By the time my son called, we had all walked a block to a co-worker’s nearby home and were glued to the TV - shocked and still confused. That phone call actually calmed me more than anything. Just hearing his voice stilled this mom’s heart who just a few weeks earlier had dropped off her oldest child at a university 3 hours away from home. How about you? What were you doing that day? This is your annual reminder to take a few minutes and write down your own memories. Scroll on down for a bit more about that. Happy almost weekend, BEHIND THE SCENES THIS WEEK If you’re a longtime reader, you’ll have no problem remembering the article I wrote a few years ago about gathering your memories of big events. Click the button below if you missed it or want to read it again.
I’m in the process of developing some DIY memory books for ya’ll to make it easier to curate your memories after you’ve written them (or recorded them via audio). Photos can really help enhance your own memories when your grandkids are reading them someday. Since I’m pretty sure that none of my subscribers were in NYC, Pennsylvania or Washington, DC on September 11, 2001, I’m also assuming that none of you have personal photos from those places on that day. To help with that, I’ve gathered some public domain photos that you can download and use if you like. Download here. Look below to see thumbnails of the photos so that you don't have to go to my Google Drive to see them if one of them doesn't suit your storytelling needs. If you want to look for other photos to support your written memories of 9/11, the Library of Congress also has a collection of 250 photos for download. You can find those here. Take a photo. Write a little bit. Create a legacy story for your family. INTENTIONAL HOME - Decluttering & Curating Memories
FREE - CURATING YOUR READINGI finally got around to creating a Reading Log spreadsheet to keep track of what I’ve already read. I have a page in my Apple Notes where I started listing books years ago, but I haven’t kept up with it. I added the current audio book I’m listening to in my own copy so that you can get an idea of how it works. I’m giving away the Books I've Read - Reading Log until I get it set up in my shop, so please use this link to download a document that has instructions and links to both the Excel desktop version and the Google Sheets online version. Note: The document will say "purchase" because I'll be using it in the shop. But for you - this is totally FREE! Happy first day of Spring. 🌸 Reading Log Access Document.pdf SHOPRESOURCES FOR ART & HEALING Renée Fleming - “Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness” - Amazon Susan Magsamen - “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us” - Amazon RESOURCES & SUPPORT
Help for using phone notes apps FREE DOWNLOADS
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Did you know that your life experiences, from simple to monumental, are worth gathering, curating and sharing with those that love you? Well, they are! Each week I share bits and bobs from my studio on how I'm working to make it easier for you to find the time, tools and motivation to preserve and share your family stories and photographs.
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Hey there friends! Well, hello October. 🍂 I’m so ready to fully embrace all things autumn that I made some pumpkin butter for the first time over the weekend. It's so good on toast! Farewell horrible dry hot spell. Welcome rainy, cooler days. I’ve just started work on a couple of booklets for my dear Presbyterian church client in Tennessee, so I’ve haven’t had much time this week to rustle up family story-gathering ideas. What I have been thinking about, though, is how the houses and...