I’ve been thinking a lot about memos, the quotes we are encouraged from books and personal development people to put up – anywhere and everywhere.

I remember I once hand wrote in pencil on some brown paper (it’s all I had to hand at the time) a list of quotes from a Wayne Dyer book. I stuck it to the frame of my ceiling high easel and painted for hours at a time. It took me years to be rid of a scrap of paper, over time it became worn and every place I moved to it would come out of the box to be put up again. It wasn’t only the words on the page it was how I felt at the time of writing them, I had a positive association with it much like a photograph. I wanted a daily reminder that something good existed, some hope and wisdom.

I do the same now though I do things differently, I don’t quite do a Maria Kondo ‘Does this bring me joy’ purge though I do look at it as see what I feel, see if I need it and if it’s even still relevant.

We change over the years in small ways and sometimes leaps and bounds, it’s ok to change things up and not feel sorry for doing do.

I recently got rid of a piece of folded paper about 3 inches wide that said ‘I can be what I will to be’ I had kept it for 5 years at my desk, then my vision board, and now office space. I looked at it and yes I did feel empowerment rushing through me. I also felt sad for twenty years old me reaching out for help and being confined to a small note for comfort and support. A day later at college we discussed ‘will’ and I thought damn my note, I got rid of it! Though I got a whole new explanation of what will is and it was fantastic. The mental agency that transforms awareness into action…the bridge between desire and act…the power of beginning (and finishing I’d like to add) of successive things…the trigger of effort the mainspring of action.

I didn’t put it on my wall though it was inspiring.

I have kept a few things up: Eric Maisel’s What Working Means, Leonie Dawson’s JOY IS AN OPTION EMBRACE POSSIBILITY, and another on aligning actions and intentions. I have a small art piece with ‘Lead’ on it and Cait Flander’s ‘Choose your own financial adventure’. On another School for Mothers founder’s (also mother of ten) words ‘Don’t be afraid to be strategic’.

I have the human bill of rights too, Pete Walker’s books changed my life in ways I didn’t foresee for the better and though it may seem strange to some or even drastic, it helps me identify my boundaries and use them in life.

I once had a scrap of paper that said ‘Follow your inner moonlight don’t hide the madness’ from beat poet Allen Ginsberg, which still resonates.

Others I have used for collage or thrown after a ‘goodbye thank you for serving me’.

Life’s too short to have memos and messages for a version of us we have outgrown or the new chapter we are entering now.

Have you had a similar experience? Share your thoughts in the comments below, I read every one and usually reply.