The idea is no different from showing a gallery of your favorite images of family, travels, landscapes... But I took the same idea to keep a rotating virtual poster of inspirational quotes and sayings.

In Windows, there is a screen saver function that is perfect for this job. But first, what the heck is a screen saver??

a bit of nostalgia...

Back in the day of the old cathode ray tube-style monitors, there was such a thing as a screen saver. The problem with the old tube-style monitors was that if a particular image was static for very long, a shadow or ghost-like image stayed "burned" into the screen. That was a distracting problem.

The way around this was to create a way to keep the screen constantly changing. Some of you oldsters like me will possibly remember the flying through space starfield, or the aquarium screen savers that Microsoft or Apple made available. Not long after they were created there was a way to attach a folder of images for a virtual photo album or slideshow. Some of my friends had pictures of their families or snaps of places they'd visited. I thought why not put up inspiration and lovely scenes from around the world?

The problem is that over the years monitors changed. The old tube-style monitors got phased out for new flat liquid crystal and then LED and plasma types. These didn't have the propensity to get screen burn so the screen saver function became unnecessary. For a time I didn't even use one. As a result, the slideshow kinda went wonky and I had to rediscover how to set it up.

It's not hard as you will see in the following set of steps. Sorry, Apple users... I am not familiar with iOS but I am sure there is a similar setting for your system as well.

How to set up a screen saver slideshow

Step 1 - Create and/or Locate folder

Perhaps you already have a folder with images you want in your slideshow. Great. Just remember where it's located for the following steps.

If you don't have a folder already, make a new one and name it something you'll remember. I chose to name mine Screensaver Slideshow. No mistaking that one!

You'll want to decide where on your computer to store a folder that will contain your images. I like to use cloud storage like Google Drive as it makes my folder available to all my devices: laptop, desktop, and phone. This is nice so when I find an image or take a nice photo they can go into that folder and as a result, show up in my screen saver!

You don't need to use cloud storage. I just like that I can add to the folder via any device I am using. Just remember what you named the folder and where it is in your computer.

Step 2 - Navigate to the screen saver Settings

Now click the Windows icon on your taskbar. This might look different on earlier or later versions on your computer.

and find and click on Settings next to gear icon.

In the search bar, type in screen saver. In the suggestion dropdown choose, Turn screen saver on or off

Step 3 - Choose the kind of screen saver

If you have no screen saver on at all you will see (None) in the dropdown box.

Click the dropdown and choose Photos (shown in image below).

Step 4 - Choose settings

Next, click Settings...

Click Browse

Navigate to the location of your folder. In the image below you will see where I have located mine.

Click OK.

Now choose the slow speed for the slide show as there is often just enough time to read the longer quotes. I chose Shuffle pictures so that the same ones don't show up one right after another. Maybe you'd like yours to always show up in order...

Now click Save to close the Settings box.

Step 6 - Choose wait time

Now you can choose the wait time from when you stop activity on your keyboard and mouse until the screen saver begins. I have mine set at 30 minutes.

Now click Apply.

Phew! Now that wasn't so bad, was it?

Now, after the set wait time, your screen will show random selections from your inspirational sayings and quotes. I know my own family has stopped and read through a few of the posts as they pass by. It keeps those things fresh and is a good reminder throughout the day.

Bonus idea!

Why not take pictures with your phone or from the net of things you'd put on your Vision Board?! A virtual vision board! Ha! I'll investigate this and create a post on it in the very near future. If you happen by this article and see that the words are linked, then you'll know I've done it!