How has scrapbooking changed my life?

By:Andrea S.

I didn't think of myself as scrapbooking material. Most of the women I knew who scrapped were wives and mothers. I am neither. There was always an understanding among my scrapping friends that they were creating legacies, not just albums. But there were no children at my house to give me adorable photo ops. No one heading off to college who needed a witness to all the steps from childhood to a shining future. So what was my motivation for scrapping?

One day a good friend gave a scrapping party and she really wanted me to be there. I agreed just to support her. Initailly I was intrigued by the chance to play with all the art supplies. Like many people who don't think of themselves as "artistic" I still loved the pencils, markers, gorgeous papers and all the toys! So I started to explore a little. And a little more and a little more. I began to have such a good time just playing.

At some point I had created enough albums that I had a nice retrospective of my own life and I took them down one day and realized something. It didn't matter that my albums weren't going to be passed to the children I didn't have. It didn't matter that after I'm gone no one may even look at them. Much to my surprise they are a wonderful chronicle of a rich life now. Good friends, good times, good things.

I'm never without my camera these days. My little hobby requires an entire room of my home and I see my own life in a way I never did before. Scrapping encourages me to appreciate the whole of my life. Not just the big events, but the small moments as well. And that is justification enough, even for skeptical little me.


Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: Scrapbooking has opened a whole new world to me!, by Aussie Bear