Emily Price is a junior psychology major. She is a staff writer for the Newswire from Miamisburg, Ohio.
If you are someone who saves movie tickets, takes way too many picture and cries at the shortest goodbye, most would consider you a sentimental person. I am one of those people, too. That is, we soak up every moment and internalize every action that takes place.
Everything in your life has value and a lot of it at that. I cry at any sad, happy or heart-tugging TV or movie scene, and my friends and family heavily roll their eyes when I want to take yet another picture. We can be difficult to handle.
It is easy to think you are strange for feeling everything so deeply the way that you do. You might even get told to toughen up and get stronger because being too emotional hinders survival in this cruel world.
Well, I am here to tell you that you can survive as a sentimental person and still value the things that you do. I even want to share a few simple tips I have learned to help organize your sentimental self and indulge in it until your heart is content.
1. Make Time for Yourself
Setting aside time for yourself to process and internalize something that happened is crucial. Use this time to write down how the events make you feel or how the small things that happened may provide important context to potential memories. You can also look through pictures that you took and pick your favorites. Doing these small things can help you get to the root of the feelings you are experiencing and eventually move past them in your own time, away from outside influences.
2. Strategize Photo Opportunities
One way to avoid the classic groan and eye roll of those you want to take pictures of or with is to plan out your photo opportunities ahead of time. Since you know that you will want as many pictures as possible, think about where you are planning to go. What places will make good pictures? How do you want people to stand? This will help to avoid making others tired or uncomfortable with your need for pictures, as it will allow a quick in and out for the picture-taking process. However, it is important not to worry too much beforehand, because that may result in perfectionism, which can ultimately hold up your picture-taking process.
3. Print More Photos
By using a photo printing website or app to print out the photos that you value the most, you are better able to keep good memories close. My parents always say “back in my day” the only pictures they had were developed ones. They say that people took 10 pictures and had 10 pictures developed. Today’s society is different; we take hundreds of pictures and print very few of them. Instead of taking tons of pictures and never looking at them, make the time to print out your favorites and put them somewhere you see them often so you can always remember that important moment.
4. Memory Boxes
One last way to organize your sentimental self is by collecting all of the small memory-associated items in different boxes. Instead of having these ticket stubs, wristbands, flyers, maps and other things clutter up your purse or wallet and every drawer of your desk and dresser, find some shoe boxes and label them: Family, friends, significant other, etc. Then, place those small items that most people throw out in those boxes and store them somewhere you can easily access. This keeps all of those items organized and out of places you need daily, but it also allows you to have those late nights of reminiscing and nostalgia.
Being a sentimental person can limit you at times. But if that sentimentality is organized and deliberate, it can be a tool instead of a restriction. By following these simple tips, I think you will find you are able to indulge your sentimental self without letting it significantly affect your daily life and the others around – all while being your true self.