The Best Investment In Your 20s: (PS It Isn’t Financial)
December 6, 2024
Writer: Chloe Pehote
Editor: Tessa Tacoma
Over the summer, one of my favorite content creators shared a video to her TikTok getting a tintype photograph with her dog to commemorate her thirtieth birthday. Beyond the video, the copy read:
“My goal this year was to document my life just as much offline as I do online. Print pictures, journal, scrapbook, keep every boarding pass, and have physical concert tickets, etc. When my mom died those tangible memories that I could hold in my hand became my most prized possession and I am afraid that future generations won’t have any of these things to look back on since everything is online.”
In hindsight, I think this sentiment perfectly reflected one of my heart-held truths about life. While technological advancements have revolutionized convenience, I have grown to notice that it has inadvertently eliminated the need and as such the demand for physical memories. It's one of the few pitfalls of the hands-free movement. While you no longer have to worry about the physical documentation of tickets, paperwork, or printed photographs, you also forfeit the chance to collect them as treasures. It is easier, after all, it is more minimal, less hassle, and far more organized–but significantly less fun.
It may seem that ‘the cloud’ fulfills the responsibilities of scrapbooks, tickets, and paperwork with far greater convenience, but it just as well removes the novelty from the momentos entirely. The trinkets that once became a time capsule of the person I was through different eras of my life are now just temporary placeholders in my Apple wallet or one in fifteen thousand photographs. There once was a time when I was able to hold onto every ticket, playbill, polaroid picture, or letter because they were exclusively manifested into physical mediums, but as of now, it is more of a struggle than a joy to collect the tangible renditions of such items.
I profess without any uncertainty that there is much to be thankful for in terms of the digitization movement. Despite this, I just as well argue that if there is one thing we will come to regret it is the overreliance on convenience over conscientiousness in this time of our lives. Beyond snapping a photograph on your cell phone, there are other ways to commemorate life that will reflect a greater degree of presentness in your existence. When everything these days is digital, the novelty of physical monuments will eventually be what makes them so special. Their variety in manifestation, whether postcards from places traveled, handwritten letters from friends throughout the years, and souvenirs from momentous occasions and interesting experiences, propose stark differentiations from simple photographs.
With this note, I propose that you choose to invest in photo strips, put time into journal entries, and collect every birthday card that you can. They are artifacts of the individual that you are and the people who have managed to touch your life right in this very moment. I guarantee that there will come a day when the ability to lay your eyes upon these trinkets, to pass them around crowded rooms, and to use them as a medium in your stories about life, love, and loss will be far more valuable than any jewel or treasure that you have invested in alongside it.
Image: Julia Bonanno
