As I continue explore my own identity through career + life changes, I've found myself wanting to cherish my memories in a more tangible away. After all, I've shared my life online for the past 13 years and yet I realized that all I have of physical mementos of my personal and professional growth is a battered shoebox that collects dust - sad, right?

While I rely heavily on an electronic calendar for my clinical role as a nurse practitioner, I crave a release of my thoughts + stressors related to being a healthcare worker, on top of my other roles (creator, wife, dog mom, etc). Naturally, I find myself gravitating toward the Chapter pages and the Moments Under the Sun pages as they allow me to envision the weeks ahead and simultaneously recap the day to day memories and the once-in-a lifetime moments.

Unsurprisingly, I've always a big planner + goal setter, but for some time, it was really difficult for me to put into words exactly what I wanted my life to look like. It’s when I started to think beyond to-do lists and stressful prompts that I found aspirations that I didn’t know I had. If you’re anything like me, you’re a planner - no matter how long the next chapter will be. You might find that creating a vision board helps you see your goals in its physical nature. Using my hands to not only write a reflection, but collect art and then curate a vision helps me manifest and outline the actionable steps that will get me to where I want to be. 

The Moments Under the Sun page always makes me emotional - I sometimes have an experience where I tell myself in the moment, “I’m gonna remember this so I can look back on it.” But often times, I forget exactly how I was feeling and what I was thinking! So I like to take quick photo to cherish the memories, no matter how small or monumental, in the days to come. I can’t wait to pass these memories down one day.

So on a slow Sunday, I love to dedicate time for myself + memory keeping, whether this be in the form of words or scrapbooking photos from recent memories. Ilove using a washi tape to add interest + color to my moodboard. I also like to keep mementos from our favorite movie theatre, and find fun text + inspiration from the home + food magazines we’re subscribed to. Inner child healing kind of work right here. 

Other ways the Archive fits into my everyday: 

• Weekly meal planning + recipe collecting 
• Monthly planning for shifts in clinic seeing patients 
• Quarterly goal setting for all things content creation + brand consulting 
• Planning a weekend or international trip (it’s the best part for me)

Follow along Clara’s moments under the sun at @itsclarajones