Finding Embers
There are stories all around us that we have never heard.
Sometimes, all it takes to discover one is a question.
Ask. Listen. Carry.
Your Ember
“What is something about your life I would probably never know unless you told me?”
A little spark
It could be something ordinary. A person, a place, a first time, a mistake, a memory — wherever the question takes you.
Ask ~ Listen ~ Carry
ASK
Choose someone. Be curious. One question is enough.
LISTEN
Let the person tell the story in their own way. Curiosity matters more than completion.
CARRY
Remember it.
Preserve it if it feels right.
Carry it wherever it belongs.
The screen is not the destination.
The conversation is.
What might you find?
An ember doesn't have to be a defining moment or a remarkable story.
Sometimes it is simply something another person still knows.
~ a Photograph ~
Who are the people in it?
~ a Tradition ~
How did it begin?
~ a Place ~
What was it like before you knew it?
~ a Name ~
Who were they?
~ a Voice ~
What does remembering sound like?
~ an Object ~
Why was it kept?
~ a Saying ~
Who used to say it?
~ an Ordinary memory ~
What somehow stayed?
~ a Recipe ~
Who knows how it's really made?
Finding Embers happens everywhere
Wherever people share time, memories and knowledge, there may be an ember waiting to be found.
~ At home ~
Ask someone something you've never asked before.
~ In a community ~
Listen to something only another person knows.
~ Among friends ~
Discover something about a life you thought you knew.
~ Around a photograph ~
Ask the person who still recognizes the faces.
~ In a classroom ~
Find one story you didn't know.
~ Through a group ~
Create a little space for a conversation.
Some stories are gifts for you,
not stories for you to share.
Nobody has to answer.
Ask before recording.
Preserving something doesn't mean making it public.
Some things can simply remain between the people who shared them.
If you want to preserve what you found
There is no single right way to carry an ember forward.
~ Write it down. ~
~ Add it to a family archive. ~
~ Place a note with the object. ~
~ Tell someone. ~
~ Record it. ~
~ Label the photograph. ~
Preserve it wherever it belongs.
A notebook. A recording. A scrapbook. A family archive. A museum or community collection. A digital service. Somewhere else entirely.
Looking for a private place to preserve your own life stories?
Need a little help?
Sometimes finding an ember raises another question.
I don't know what to ask.
Find a question that might open a story.
There's a story behind an object.
Simple ways to keep the meaning with the thing.
Preserve an object's story →
I found an old photograph.
What to record while someone can still tell you who — and what — you're looking at.
Preserve a photograph →
I want to record someone's voice.
Ways to capture a voice simply and thoughtfully.
Learn how →
Why Finding Embers?
Every person carries things that may exist nowhere else.
A memory. A detail. The story behind an object. The name of someone in a photograph. A way of doing something. An ordinary moment another person never knew.
Finding Embers is a small invitation to become curious while those things can still be shared.