Writing about your favorite things can help your readers connect with you.
Narratives are wonderful, but not all the memories you preserve have to be straight narratives. The purpose of preserving your memories is connecting. Connecting, by extension, involves letting others get to know you better. A list of your favorite things can do just that.
Knowing that you like raindrops on roses isn’t going to explain the depths of your soul to your loved ones, but it will enable people to relate to you on a more personal level. Just as stories and scrapbook pages benefit from layers, knowing what your hobbies are, what you collect, and what you enjoy adds texture to your personality.
In addition, some of the things you love might surprise people. For instance, my husband’s grandfather was an engineer and ham radio enthusiast. It comes as no surprise that he preferred non-fiction to fiction, but the fact that he was a fiddle player (yes, fiddle—not violin) surprised me, as did the fact that he took up the cello in his sixties.
Options for Writing about Your Favorite Things
Here are some ideas to spark something more creative than a simple list.
Word cloud I made at wordle of my favorite things
- Simply start writing or brainstorming in a journal or word-processing program.
- List your likes by categories—food, collectibles, free time, books, etc.
- Rank your favorites (unless your favorites include your kids)
- Go with the desert island theme: “If I had to live on a desert island and could only take x things with me, I would pack…” Whom would you want to take with you?
- Draw or take pictures of your favorites and mount them on a scrapbook page or make a collage with them.
- Make a word cloud—you can make your own or use a program such as Wordle.net.
- Use Pinterest to “pin” your favorites and share your boards. To see an example of a board, see my board of ideas for memory sharing.
- List your favorite things by age. What were your favorite activities as a child or young adult versus your current favorite activities? What about your favorite possessions?
- Use a video camera and record your own “show and tell” session.
Your Turn
What are your favorite things? How have you written about them? Please share your thoughts and ideas below.
© Laura Hedgecock 2013
Great blog post. I have a friend who keeps a scrapbook about her antiques collections. It’s been a lot of fun for her to do and it’s also helpful for recordkeeping. I love the stories about the pieces she inherited from her grandmother. Cheers!
That’s such a wonderful idea. My parents died suddenly so my sister and I didn’t know the history of a lot of their stuff. I wish we’d done something like that early on. Hard to tell what’s old versus what’s valuable.
Thanks for commenting.
Laura
please could you help my for write favorite car
There is a post about that. https://treasurechestofmemories.com/car-memories-write/. Thanks for reading!
thanks
My name is Selina and I will tell about me!
Favorite color: Light pink and yellow
Favorite animal: Kitty, Kitten, any puppies
Favorite food: Any kind of noodles
If you let me type more, I will type!
my name is Aalia and i will tell about me!
favorite season:winter
favorite color:hot pink and teal
favorite number:8
favorite sport:swimming
favorite snack:cupcake
favorite flavor:chocolate
favorite hobby:crafting,painting,coloring,and drawing.
favorite food:cake
favorite book:Ms. Holly Is Too Jolly!
favorite animal:dolphin and flamingo
Thanks for sharing! I’m with you on chocolate.
Great post, here are a few of my favorite things:
Season: Spring
Color: Orange
Animal: Dogs
Sport: Figure Skating
Candy: CRUNCH Bar
Scent: Saltwater
Book: Percy Jackson
Hobby: Drawing, Reading
Number: Eight
Food: KRAFT Mac & Cheese
Snack: Any fruit
Thanks for sharing these!