Project Me: Keep a Memory and Hygge Jar

I’ve been toying with the idea of keeping a New Year’s memory jar. Unfortunately, I never seem to get it together or think about it until after January 1st. I get hung up on THE RULES saying you have to start it on New Year’s Day.

Funny thing, is that starting a wish and happiness jar on January first isn’t some hard and fast rule. It is something that somehow got stuck in my fevered brain. Pretty silly, huh?

Long story short, it is after New Year’s Day and I started a memory jar. I will fill it with slips of paper reminding me of achievements, fun times, and hygge moments both big and small.

 Pin this idea for later!

What do I mean by hygge moments, you ask? Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is an important part of Danish culture that is a little hard to describe. The closest English translation is “coziness” but not in the sense of wearing a soft and warm sweater on a chilly day.  Hygge is more like the warm, happy feeling you get when you are spending time with friends or someone you love.

A fire in the fireplace, candlelight, hot chocolate, or mulled wine can be contribute to the perfect hygge conditions but it isn’t necessary. Hygge is a feeling, not necessarily a thing or a place. Often I feel hygge when I'm with friends being silly on a karaoke or game night.

Lacey is the Mistress of Hygge when she decides you need to stop what you are doing because you need a dog on your lap. She gingerly climbs into your lap and falls asleep. Hygge!

A photo posted by Lisa (@condoblues) on Oct 1, 2015 at 4:19pm PDT

Lacey, the Mistress of Hygge.

The big, fun events that happen throughout the year and are easy to remember but I'd add them to my jar too. It is those little moments like feeling fantastically tired after a 10 mile bike ride on a perfect summer day, an in joke with Husband that makes us belly laugh and becomes a thing, or the day crunches and ab work got a little less hateful in Piyo class (I’m still waiting to experience this day, by the way.)

Some folks read the memories in their jars at the end of the year. I’ll probably do that too but in the meantime, I’m also going to pull a slip of paper out and read a memory whenever I’m feeling a little down on a cold or rainy gray day and need a little mental pick me up.

The nice thing about memory jars is that they can be as simple or fancy as you like. Some folks decorate them. Other folks just grab the first empty jar they have on hand and start filling it with special moments written on slips of scrap paper. Neither is wrong. It’s is all up to you.

My New Year’s Jar is a little bit of both. I had a painted salsa jar in my craft room from a unfinished project that stalled. I decorated it with the last of some alphabet stickers, scrap ribbon, and a label cut from a pasta box.

 

 The only reason my memory jar has a hole in the lid is due to the failed orginal project otherwise I would have kept the lid intact.

Do you keep a memory jar? What type of things to you record with it?

Did you like this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Lazy Budget Chef RSS feed or by subscribing to Lazy Budget Chef by email.