The story of EM

How EM started

About a year ago, I wanted to scroll back to this day the year before, to see what my partner and I had been talking about. It would have been our early dating days, and I was curious what the 'topic of the day' was. We often had a good giggle at it. But if you've ever tried to scroll back a year in a chat where you talk almost daily, you'll know the novelty wears off quickly. It isn't easy. Every now and then I'd get the urge to do it again, but the endless scrolling put me off, and I'd get distracted or give up.

Then my best friend, Emma, suddenly passed away, and I realised that all I had left of our 15-year friendship was our chat history. I scrolled through our messages and listened to our voice notes for days, and through the tears I searched the internet for a way to save these memories. Not just on a hard drive or as a backup in the cloud, but as keepsakes that I could keep living through. There was nothing, at least nothing I could find.

I searched for almost a month. I don't think there's a search term I didn't try. I needed an answer, but there was nothing apart from 'export the chat and make a PDF' type products around.

So I had to take it into my own hands and find a way.

Reliving the messages

I knew exactly how I wanted to relive our messages: as 'on this day' memories. That way I wasn't just reading a PDF. I wouldn't know which memory would come up the next day, and the anticipation of wondering what it held made the conversation feel real. You never know what someone is going to message you, and that's part of what makes it special. So having memories pop up at random was exactly how I wanted to relive our conversations.

I lost my dad fifteen years ago and my brother nine years ago, and sadly I can't remember their voices anymore. I would give anything to hear them one more time. So making sure that EM was able to store and play back voice notes was non-negotiable. I didn't stop until I was able to make it possible - and I did.

Being able to listen to voice notes from years back has been the greatest gift of it all. The excitement in my voice as I sent family updates after I moved to a new country, listening to voice notes from my nephews and how their voices have changed as they have gotten older, hearing those voice notes where your friend is trying to tell a story but is laughing long before the words come out. These moments don't exist anywhere except in our WhatsApp, until now.

A place to write it down

When I read my daily chat memories, I'm often reminded of something that happened that I hadn't thought about since. I wanted a place to write that memory down, right there and then, before I forgot it again for another year. Sometimes I simply remembered how that day felt, and I wanted to capture that feeling. And so the EM journal was born.

It belongs right there, inside EM, that way you don't have to leave and open another app to write it down. A memory or a feeling can be fleeting, and by the time you've opened another app, the real essence of it, and the motivation to write it, has faded, if it isn't gone altogether.

Your journal entries come back to you too, in your daily card stack, through the years after you wrote them. So if a message sparks a memory and you write it down, next year your note comes back on the same day as the chat memory card that sparked it. Because let's face it, as much as we think we won't forget, five or 10 years from now that message may not spark the same excitement or emotion it does when it's only a year or two old.

Finding something special

Not every day brings a memory. Let's face it, we don't chat every day with the people we love. 'Take me back' in EM helps with that, by letting you search your messages for a random day, a particular day or a message with specific words.

I was having one of those days when I needed a pep talk with Emma, and I couldn't have one. But we'd had those chats before, and that's how 'Take me back' came about. I can't have the actual chat with Emma anymore, but I can search for words I know she said, and find some comfort in them whenever I need them.

And when I find the conversations I love, and the voice notes I want to hear over and over again, not just on their anniversary, I 'heart' them on the card. So that they're saved in my Loved library, for me to replay or laugh at whenever I need to.

Living a little more intentionally

This whole experience has changed how I am with my messages. It made me realise just how important those daily, seemingly uneventful moments can be. So I try to be more intentional with the people I love, and to reach out to them more often. It doesn't have to be deep and meaningful every time. But I promise you, when the messages are all someone has, they won't care what the words were. They'll find comfort in seeing your name pop up, or hearing your voice.

I really hope EM becomes part of your daily life, and that it helps you live a little more intentionally, because the words you say today and the thoughts you have today can stay with you. Watch yourself grow through the year, and watch how your conversations grow too. Maybe you upload a chat today and there are only a few memories. That's ok. Reach out to the people you love and start building your daily memories for your future. x