I have things I save.

Maybe you do too.

The good perfume.

The pretty dress.

The jewelry that’s just a little too sparkly for an ordinary afternoon.

The restaurant that feels like it needs a reason.

The purse that’s completely impractical but makes you smile every time you see it.

Somehow, these things get assigned to a category called:

“Special occasions.”

And then we wait.

But What Exactly Are We Waiting For?

A birthday?

An anniversary?

A wedding?

Someone to invite us somewhere?

One day I started wondering why the occasion has to come first.

Why can’t we decide that something is worth doing simply because we’d enjoy doing it?

That’s what I love about Kara.

My future self doesn’t seem nearly as interested in saving things as I am.

In my imagination, I asked Kara where she was going dressed in a beautiful floral dress, wearing her good jewelry, carrying an admittedly ridiculous flower-covered purse and holding a pink parasol.

Her answer?

Lunch.

That’s it.

She’s meeting a friend for lunch at the botanical gardens.

No birthday.

No anniversary.

Nothing whatsoever to celebrate.

Except, perhaps, a beautiful afternoon.

When Did We Start Saving the Good Stuff?

I understand saving certain things.

I’m probably not going to wear an evening gown to the grocery store.

But I think sometimes we take the idea much further than that.

We save the good dishes.

We save the expensive perfume.

We save the dress.

We save the restaurant.

We save the trip.

And sometimes we even save parts of ourselves.

I’ll do that when I lose weight.

I’ll wear that when I have somewhere special to go.

I’ll take that trip when someone can go with me.

I’ll try that when I have more time.

Someday.

And while we’re waiting for the special occasion, an awful lot of perfectly good ordinary days go by.

What If You Made the Occasion?

This is where the idea of Future Memories has changed the way I think about things.

Instead of waiting for something interesting to happen and then making a memory of it, I can turn the process around.

I can decide what I’d like to experience first.

Maybe it’s lunch at a botanical garden.

Maybe it’s wearing a beautiful dress somewhere simply because I love the dress.

Maybe it’s finally making a reservation at the restaurant I’ve been talking about for years.

Maybe it’s using the good china for dinner on a Tuesday.

Then I can picture it.

I can create a Future Memory of it.

And, most importantly, I can put something on the calendar and take a step toward making it real.

Suddenly, I’m not waiting for the special occasion anymore.

I’m making one.

Sometimes the Outfit IS the Occasion

I think Kara understands this much better than I do.

She isn’t wearing the floral dress because lunch is important enough for the dress.

She’s wearing it because she likes the dress.

She’s carrying the ridiculous purse because it delights her.

She’s wearing the jewelry because she owns it.

And apparently she’s carrying a pink parasol because…

Well, she’s Kara.

Of course she is.

And maybe there’s something wonderfully freeing about that.

You don’t have to dress younger.

You don’t have to dress for your age.

You don’t even have to dress for the occasion.

Sometimes you can simply dress for your plans.

And sometimes the outfit becomes part of what makes an ordinary day memorable.

What Have You Been Saving?

Take a look around.

Is there something you’ve been saving for “someday”?

A dress?

A bottle of perfume?

A restaurant?

A trip?

An experience?

Maybe even an idea you’ve had for yourself?

Ask yourself one simple question:

What exactly am I waiting for?

And if you don’t have a particularly good answer, perhaps it’s time to stop waiting.

Wear it.

Use it.

Book it.

Plan it.

Picture yourself there.

Make a Future Memory of it.

Because someday doesn’t have to arrive with an engraved invitation.

Sometimes it’s just lunch on a Tuesday.

And maybe…

this IS the special occasion.

Make Your Own Future Memory

What ordinary day would you love to make a little less ordinary?

Picture it.

What are you wearing?

Where are you going?

Who are you with?

What would make you smile when you remembered it later?

Now make the memory first.

✨ Create your first Future Memory FREE at:

FutureMemoryMaker.com

The KARA Effect

See it. Remember it. Become it.