Hi friends. Today I'm sharing a special weekend post. Its National
Scrapbooking Day today and I wanted to be part of the celebration but in a
different way.
In this post, I'd
like to share my "selfish" reasons for why I love what I do and what
keeps me motivated to continue on preserving my family’s stories and
memories.
Before I run down
through my list, let me talk about why I consider these reasons
"selfish". I think with anything that you want to commit to and
invest time and money on; you have to have deep rooted personal reasons on why
you choose to spend your time on that specific thing. One wise woman once told
me, "we all have 24 hours in a day; it just depends on how we use it that
matters". So with that I don't feel guilty when I'd rather spend 2 hours
in my craft room versus 2 hours working out. I know that physical activity is
important but like what she said, we all have that time and we choose what we
fill it up with.
Although most of
my scrapbooks are filled with stories of my children, I also need to have my
own personal reasons on continuing these books otherwise I will feel burnt out
and get to the point where I don't want to touch another piece of paper for the
rest of my life.
In short....I
scrapbook, first and foremost, because I WANT TO! That's the only way I can get
through the challenges and commitment that these hobby/craft/art form asks of
me.
So with that let
me run through my "selfish" reason on why I do what I do...
circa 2006
1. My mother was
into genealogy at one point. She was doing really well finding some
leads and names and then she hit a wall. Somebody told her that the only way
she can continue is to actually go back to the Philippines and start scouring
the records there. That's a tall order and sadly she had not been able to make
big headways with that. On the other hand my father in law has compiled a good
amount of names going up to the 1700's. He put them together in a thick book and it’s
sitting proudly on our book shelf.
I want to know my
ancestors too but that's not happening right now so I told myself that the idea
of not knowing the people that went before you will stop at my line. And that
the family members that will go after me will not only know my name, where I
was born and all that good stuff, but more importantly they will know who I
loved, how I lived and what mattered most to me. That's all evident in every
scrapbook page that I create.
circa 2008
2. I love my
children but with the challenges of raising two very different human beings
sometimes I don't show that to them. I will be honest here and say i'm not one
of those moms that can get her point across to the child in a "nice, calm
tone". But when they look at the books and scrapbook pages that I had
created for them, my hope is that they will know that despite mom's nagging or
shouting (yes I do that occasionally) that I loved them with all the
fiber of my being. Through my scrapbooks they will know that someone was paying
close attention to their lives and making sure that each detail was captured
and preserved.
circa 2010
3. Scrapbook/Paper
Crafting is so much cheaper than therapy for me. We all have struggles in life
and there are times when I feel like I can't take any more trial or set back.
And in those days, the only way that can keep me from pulling my hair out
(literally and figuratively) is if I quickly divert my attention to my papers,
pictures and stories. Sometimes creating a simple card helps me through the day
and then there are those moments when I seriously need to immerse myself in
major paper projects so that I can feel the bright shine of hope again. I don't
want to sound so sappy here but seriously, paper crafting has been my go-to for
therapy and quiet time to gain the feelings of gratefulness and hope.
circa 2012
4. I discovered
many more interests and "talents" through my love of paper crafting.
Scrapbooking for me has become a spring board for many other opportunities that
I never have thought about until I started this craft. It rekindled my love for
photography and capturing moments. I am able to decorate my home with handmade
items that reflect my personality without breaking the bank. Scrapbooking have
improved my writing and teaching skills. And the best part...I have many more
friends now because of Paper crafting. My blog friends are from all over the
world and I always feel giddy when I see my blog tracker show views from the
Philippines, Israel and just today from Russia. How neat is that?!
circa 2013
5. President Thomas S. Monson (Latter day Prophet) said "Choose your love. Love your choice"
and with that my last reason for scrapbooking is simply because I'm choosing to
commit my time, talent and voice to the art of it. I'm choosing to spend my
time on creating pages that I pray will be valued by my children, their
children, their children's children and so on.
I love my choice
and in this National Scrapbook day I urge anyone that will be touched by this
post and want to commit or recommit to scrapbooking to take that plunge and
start today. If you need to know where to start...I'm just a comment or email
away. I can help. :)
Thanks for
stopping by.
Till next time,
Grace
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