Ideally, to start this journey I would explore the research on mementos and the experiences of those who manage large collections of similar objects (such as museums, foundations etc). I do intend to do both those things. However, I have an immediate need to do something with my retirement cards and messages, so I shall use them as the topic for an initial practical experiment which will focus on the following two questions:
- What do I want to achieve?
- What do I do with the physical objects?
To answer the first question, I plan to try out a structured approach in which I will consider what I want with these mementos both within my lifetime, and after death. In both cases I will specify one or more desires, the people who each desire applies to and the period over which the desire should extend. The notion is that getting a more insightful answer to the first question will help to get a better answer to the second question.