What Matters Monday 8/25/08 – the story!
Monday, August 25th, 2008
I began my quest of scrapbooking way back…first as a memory book in grade school with cards, programs, notes, etc. By high school I incorporated magazine clippings and my favorite music into my book. Then by college I was an official paper scrapbooker (but far more basic than paper scrapping today LOL!).
Eventually with a busy life and better computer skills I turned digi, so to say. But the common thread all along was the story!
My goal was to document for myself and my family what was happening during this life of ours. This interest began as a child going to visit my Grammy. She had a stack of scrapbooks like nothing I’d ever seen. (**read: She did not have magnetic cling pages) She had paper albums with black or while paper pages and pictures, some with fancy edges, some with photo corners. She had journaling!
She had news clippings, sketches, and notes.
Every visit I would pour over these books of hers and her mother’s (my great-grandmother – an artist) asking questions about what life was like then, who was who, etc. I have two of those books today – they are my prized possessions to tell the truth.
The stories are precious glimpses into a time gone by, and they made me realize I had more in common with my grandmother than I thought, despite our age difference. These books show the basis of who I am, my family heritage.
I encourage you to tell the story. The daily life too, not just milestones. How much do things cost today? What stages are you or the kids going through? What is important to you? What was said? Interview your kids, your parents, or your best friends.
For those nervous journalers out there…a picture tells a thousand words! Take pictures of where you work, where you live. Don’t extract every picture, sometimes the backgrounds tell so much of the story. That old furniture in your den will be nostalgic to your kids when they are 40! The cereal box will be “old” looking some day. Relish the story!
Remember the basics of storytelling from school? Who, what, when, where, and why?
Go ahead… have fun being artistic, better yourself by learning new techniques, but don’t get too caught up in the technique du jour, that you forget to eventually get to the story too. Now of course, not everyone may have the same goal…but this is what matters to me:)
