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One way to think about life is in terms of stories: ultimately, everyone has a story to tell. We can look at every person as a collection of experiences. If they decide to share it, it can be a memoir of some sort, whether it's written, photographed, filmed, painted, etc.

Perhaps that's why we like going down memory lane so much. It's a way to remember our stories, to map out our personal history. Who knows, perhaps many years from now, your grandkids or great-grandkids will open your journal or your photo album and get a glimpse of what life was like before their time?

According to Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development stages, when we get older, we're more prone to reflect and reminisce about our lives. At this stage of our lives, we feel fulfillment if we're happy about the choices we made or if we regret anything.

According to Erikson, if we're happy with the lives that we live, we feel we have wisdom. If not, the disappointments and regrets lead to bitterness and despair. In Erikson's framework, this stage starts at about 65 years and continues until the end of life. But we don't need to wait for years to pass by if we want to preserve our personal histories. We can start recording right now.

For those who want to record their personal histories, some people specialize in that very thing. Amy Woods Butler, the founder of the memoir-writing service The Story Scribe, writes that creating a memoir benefits both the author and those who will read/listen to/watch it. As we do it, we make sense of our experiences and lives for ourselves, but we also leave some wisdom behind for future generations.

Of course, people can record their memoirs themselves. If sitting down and simply coming up with an outline seems too daunting, memoir writers recommend the interview technique. Even if it's a sort of an autobiography, authors can try interviewing themselves. "Ask yourself introspective questions like, 'What was the most meaningful moment in your life?', 'What are you most proud of? Why?' Use your responses to this self-interview to guide your outline," Felice León writes for NPR.

A memoir is the history of a person, but it doesn't have to include the things the person lived through they're not comfortable to share. León claims that every subject has agency over their personal story. And, as Shanita Hubbard, the author of Ride Or Die: A Feminist Manifesto For The Well-Being Of Black Women told her in an interview, you can show only the healed version of yourself. "I only show my scars, not my wounds," Hubbard said.

At the same time, the author of a memoir has a lot of power. A person's life inevitably includes other people, and sometimes, they might remember things differently. That's why León recommends talking to friends, family, and acquaintances about events to fact-check if they really happened the way you remember them.

Recording family history can be just as significant. In a 2023 YouGov survey, the majority of Americans said that their grandparents have been either very (39%) or somewhat (33%) influential in their lives. Yet not every grandchild knows their grandparents very well, as a 2019 poll by Ancestry found out that most grandkids want to hear about their grandparents' childhoods and younger years the most.

Recording a family member's story can sometimes be difficult as well. Firstly, they might not want to tell you anything at all. "I've got nothing to tell," they might say. However, as Kate Carter, founder and CEO of LifeChronicles, told WIRED, making it about the family might convince them. She suggests saying something like, "This would mean so much to me and to future generations of our family."

One of the most important things is to know what questions to ask (or what not to ask!). Ancestry experts recommend having a list of questions ready before you talk to them. Together with asking them things about when and where they were born and what their job was, ask things like: "Who was your hero growing up?", "What traits do you think are common in your family?", and "Did you have a favorite hang-out spot?"

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