Notes on a phone
The moment I realised I had chronicled my life on my phone.
I was reading through the notes on my phone and I realised that they were a chronicle of my life over the past 10 years. They were snippets of different moments of my life, a digital diary of sorts and full of things that I deemed important or interesting to write down at the time.
I have notes all the way back from 2014 which is quite unbelievable considering that they are nearly 10 years old. I don’t quite feel that enough time has passed to have 10 years worth of notes on a phone.
Most of them I remember, then there are others that are just one word or a sentence and I have completely forgotten the significance of why I wrote them down in the first place. It obviously meant something at the time but now all meaning is lost to the universe.
It feels reflective reading through them, the notes from 2014 seem to be full of wistful thinking and travel tips about Australia ( I was planning my first big trip) and it seems I asked everyone and anyone who had been there for any advice.
It was also the first time I had an iPhone as I was always a Blackberry or Nokia girl. Although I did have a brief foray into owning a pink Motorola Razr flip phone which I now realise was heavily influenced by the TV show The Hills. Re-watching this recently on Netflix made me realise how much of an impact it actually on had on my life at the time but that is for another day . Keeping and making notes on a phone was very novel and new, so these are definitely the most detailed.
There is a note from 2015 with the words ‘68 tea towels’ and I can instantly remember where I was (Scotland) and why I made a note of it (a big house, lots to organise ) There are notes about campsite wifi passwords and how much money I had spent in Australia, New Zealand and America. I had a tight budget when travelling and I only blew it on the last few days in Santa Barbara when I brought a fancy Ralph Lauren handbag. There is a note with the name of a runner for the Jimmy Kimmel Show who had told me that if we took his name and came back at a certain time we would be able to watch the taping of the show. I was slightly incredulous about this but lo and behold a few hours later we were sat in the studio waiting for the filming to start.
There are notes on auction houses- not really sure why, possibly to do with another career direction I was thinking of at the time and notes about what a bride needs for a wedding from 2017. Some dates and names were also noted that I now no longer remember why I wrote them down, I think they were people I had read about or possibly to do with a job I was interested in.
One note reflected a time in 2018 when I thought I wanted to be part of Khloe Kardashian’s Good Squad and so wrote down why I thought I would be a good ambassador for the brand…
2019 had some solid note highlights such as the instructions on how to conduct the aftercare following ear piercing- I was extremely thorough the second time around as my previous ear piercing at age 11 ended up being a nightmare so I pulled them out and waited until I was 30 to re pierce them. More notes on travel ( as you can see a consistent thing in my life) and details about a surf ranch in California. I never went but I love the fact that I thought I could attend a surf camp with zero experience. I might look up the place one day and see if it’s still running.
2020 seemed hopeful at first with ideas for the year but then covid struck and very little was written down.
There are many notes from 2021 onwards about my by lines and ideas for content for my podcast Muppetsational! and the things I wanted to do as the world was slowly opening back up again. Notes from 2022 were full of hope and dreams and drafts of messages that needed extra thought and attention before the recipient received them.
My notes and there purpose shifted in 2023, they now tend to be where I formulate and brew my ideas for my writing, I have a lot of sentences and words, like Hepburn, sea of creativity, breath and take my space. They seem more emotional, connected to mindfulness and also include recommendations and advice from people I have connected with. I seem to take screenshots of things I am interested in now rather than always writing them down.
As I have grown and learnt over the past 10 years I realise I am more present in the moment and this is perhaps why my notes know have taken a different shape. Maybe I trust myself more with things I will remember and only now write down the things I truly want to remember or think about or pursue further.
"We wait to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.'
ANAÏS NIN