Collect memories not things

“Fill your life with experiences and memories, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show”.

I had the fortunate pleasure of attending a college friend’s wedding this past weekend. I knew both the bride and groom from my Intervarsity group. We also played a lot of indoor volleyball together.

The ceremony was held on a Friday afternoon and the reception followed afterwards. Luckily, we were under a tent when it started raining during the reception. Most of the people who attended the wedding were college friends. So there was a lot of dancing, drinking, and catching up between old friends. Here are some pictures:

Overall, it was a great and fun wedding. I was super happy and honored to be a part of my friends’ wedding day. Congratulations Evelyn and Rob! I wish you a lifetime of laughter and good health.

We also had a little picnic the next day. It was a great time to catch up with some friends who I didn’t get a chance to talk to during the wedding. It was also a chance for some friends and I to play volleyball together (the last time we all played together was in college).

This wedding hit a little different

I’ve been to previous college friend’s weddings, but somehow, this one hit a little different.

I think it was because I had reunited with friends who I hadn’t seen in 7 years. Everybody had come back from their journey they embarked on after college. So many things had changed. People were engaged or had kids. Some people had changed their careers (like myself). The reunion felt surreal too because I felt like it was just last week that I saw some of these people at the dining hall or at the dorms.

I can’t help but think of the reunion like a scenario where Frodo and everybody else who got split off in the beginning of the journey to destroy the ring came back to the Shire to reunite momentarily.

Being a part of this smaller wedding made me realize how much more joyful it is to have friends who can celebrate this unique occasion with.

Nostalgia over college memories

I got a last minute invite to eat dinner with some of my college friends the night before I left. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a chill dinner with some conversations about the wedding.

No – it turned out to be a loud and fun conversation about our college memories. We all shared nostalgia over where our favorite place to eat was, our favorite place to study, and hilarious stories of our group travels.

We could’ve talked for hours. Unfortunately, we had to stop because most of us had to catch early flights the next day.

It’s conversations like these that I’ve really come to realize that it’s more important to pursue collecting memories (the good ones of course) and not things.

Memories last a lifetime so you can always look back on them for a source of encouragement or joy. They serve as fertilizer for enriching your own life.

Collecting these memories is a reason why I started this blog – it’s so I can have a story to tell that can inspire, entertain, or teach about how to live a meaningful life.

Those memories you make with friends also give meaning and depth to your friendships.

Encouragement to do it whether you’re young or old

When you are younger, you have more time and less money. As you get older, you have less time and more money. In my experience, I’ve found it easier to take for granted the things you have a surplus of. So it can be easy to let time pass or focus more on trying to make money (which isn’t bad or wrong).

But if you’re making and collecting memories and not things when you’re younger, you can create a more enriching life. It can serve as a testimony to others and your older self that it’s possible to live a joyful life without the need of a lot of materialistic things.

It’s something I would’ve told and highly encouraged my younger self to do because all I did was study in college. I spent more time at the library than hanging out with friends. I wished I could’ve spent more time investing in some of my college friendships.

When you’re older, making memories with others gets harder because everybody gets super busy with work and family. I’m being more intentional with meeting up with people on a weekly basis. I have to plan at least a week in advance for a lot of my meetups!

The other thing too is that when you’re older, do you want to look back on the memories you made or that thing you bought that made you happy maybe for like 1 or 2 months? I don’t hear old people talk about their stuff – I hear more about their unique experiences and memories they had when they were younger.