I understand 2017 was a year that most people would like to forget, but I hope the happy moments outweighed the bad.
I came up with an easy way to remember all the cool stuff I did during the year. I started doing this in 2016 and I kept the tradition going for 2017.
Well, the 2016 Memory Jar started with me writing one good thing that happened on that day on a small slip of paper and at the end of the year, I would go through each piece of paper and remember all the good times.
Needless to say, I wasn’t able to make it through the entire year – days were skipped, I didn’t feel like catching up, so I threw out every single piece of paper and started a new approach. I know it sounds defeatist, but if I wasn’t going to see the project the entire way through, I may as well not do it. I started saving ticket stubs, bracelets, and other mementos in the jar. That proved to be a far better approach!
This is the 2017 Memory Jar. I know, it looks like an ordinary mason jar with some random crap in it. However, all of the stuff in the mason jar marks a specific moment from my life in 2017. There are ticket stubs from all the concerts and shows I attended (Muse, and Sublime with Rome/The Offspring at Jones Beach, John Mulaney and Craig Ferguson at The Paramount – just to name a few) – a label from a water bottle that I got while on vacation in Aruba, a candy wrapper from a taping of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (the taping didn’t start on time so the staffers bought some candy to give to the audience), a guitar pick from Sponge when they did our 3rd Ho Ho Ho Fest at Stereo Garden, and so on.
I guess the lesson of the memory jar is to not take anything – no matter how big or small – for granted.
2017 was a year of making mistakes, trying new things, exploring, growth, and change. Thinking about all the possibilities for the next year and being thankful for everything 2017 taught me.
In the words of Jeremy Clarkson, and countless others before him – LET’S DO THIS, 2018!
-Jamie