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As my son started to pack things for his freshman year and upturned the seldom-used bottom drawer of his cupboard… we found 3 identical pairs of T-shirts & 2 pairs of Jeans – all in brand-new condition!

And it struck me, how similar our memories are to these clothes! Once very important & fresh, one day they get pushed at some far, unlit recess of our mind until they get completely lost under a heap of new memories.

I also realized, how remembering about those old Jeans and ‘T’-shirts could have saved us some time and money spent on new purchases.

If only I had a pocketbook to keep a note of these things – like a pocketbook of memories.

But then I wondered, can a pocketbook of memories be only a pocketbook?

Isn’t a list of memories endless? … Like a list of people who mattered to us … Or a ‘happiness’ book, our childhood toys, or even an album of our favorite songs? … Quotes and inspirations, doodles and drawings, the daily grocery list, that adorable pet album, the all-important year-in-reviews, highly cherished annual events, our journey in life, our weekend getaways, letters of note … those must-do lists on yellow sticky notes …

And not to forget that list of Jeans & T-shirts!

But how many pocketbooks can I have? And which memories to store …? Well, the answer is not so simple and I’ve found very often it may differ from person to person.

One of my favorite ways to capture memories of a similar nature – like travels in Europe or our journey till now – is to record important visual elements in that time frame in the form of a collage – akin to a “Memory Lane”. Where, as you walk down, events from the past re-appear & engage you in a meaningful conversation. Sometimes it forces you to self-introspect or even imagine a parallel “what if” reality. But whatever it does – it brings in pure joy.

Examples of some "Memory Lanes" I created

A single “lane” of memory can open up an entire string of memories for me, like how sometimes a single song, or a smell or even a taste does.

When I travel, wherever possible, I document what I see through drawings – nothing elaborate, just simple pen-and-wash travel sketches or watercolor studies. Apart from the fact they help me see things around me in a completely different way, they do serve as excellent personal memoirs as well. As I go through them later – all the sights, sounds & tastes come back to me and I often end up appreciating more what I've felt; or notice things which otherwise could have gone unnoticed.

Sketches like these often help me remember things better!

Or end up painting with one of those as subjects!

These personal notes and stories are like a pocketbook that helps me to see, experience & even paint things – often over an extended period when the actual event has already ended.

And I must say, my watercolor paintings – which I prepare based on those field notes & sketches, do complement my travel experience - like a diary, these help me to store some very personal memories - moments of my heightened perception of color, shapes, or the interplay of light-n-shade between natural & manmade forms – encapsulated in a single colorful image.

And I can relive those glorious times anytime I care to look at it. One more pocketbook for me.

Much like a photo album – and I must admit I do have a series of them, prepared more as photobooks or a scrapbook.

Some of my "Photo-story" albums

Talking of photos – sometimes these can go a long way in re-building our memories. Indeed, some can even say a thousand words. People who always take selfies, and groupfies and try to capture every single waking moment of their life on mobile phones, may earn our ire and displeasure at times, but what they’re doing is collecting enough materials of provenance, for re-building their past sometime in the future and relive moments which are then gone. One might argue that by doing so they’re missing what is around them now, they’re missing their present – but tell me, is there anything called a ‘present’? Can we feel it?

Don’t we always see the present in a flashback? Through our memories?

Isn’t our conscience, our perception of existence, our perceived reality, all a product of our memories?

This I find a more important reason to maintain a pocketbook of memories – to make a sense of my being! Who I was and what I have become. My journey so far.

And maybe have an idea where I might go.

Sometimes I feel, even these blogs that I write are a way of remembering things for me. By recalling incidents that happened to me and then trying to connect them under a common theme, I’m trying to create a narrative, a story that is easy to remember. A story I can tell whenever I want.

A blog of memories, a ‘pocketbook’ so to speak.

And today, while I scour through the ‘favorites’ folder in my phone photos in search of that perfect family snap, which I could prop up on my desk to remind me of the times we had together, I’m realizing what else a memory could do for me - at times when I feel alone, it can become my best friend!

So which pocketbooks do you keep?