Celebrate Life Through Your Journaling

I love to scrapbook for so many reasons.  I enjoy the creative outlet.  I love documenting our memories.  I love seeing my children remember details that would have been forgotten without their scrapbooks.  I love pushing myself to learn new techniques.  I love sharing my voice and perspective with those that I love.

You may have noticed that I didn't write "I love journaling".  I will admit that journaling is my least favorite part of creating a page and yet I think it is the MOST important part of creating a page.  Journaling allows your voice to be heard.  If you have taken any of my classes, you have heard me talk about the importance of sharing your voice through your pages.  When my pages come back from the printer and we look at them together.  The kids are constantly saying "Mom, read it to me....can you read that again".  They love to hear my perspective on what is happening on the page and I will admit that frequently when I am reading to them, I get choked up.  My voice and heart are on a lot of those pages and they can hear that when I am reading those words over and over again.  

I think it is so important to go beyond the simple details of what is happening.  In the page below that I recently  created, I could have just said "the two of us went to the beach and had a great time".  Yes, that would have summarized it but there was so much more I could share about my observations that day.

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I was able to talk about our day and the specifics of what I adore about my son right now at this stage of his precious, little life.  I wanted to make the connections about the specifics that I was seeing that day to the much larger picture of how he has captured my heart day in and day out.  I really don't think journaling is easy.  Sometimes I get caught up in trying to find the perfect words and sometime I worry about my grammar.  I generally just throw that all aside and just write from my heart.  I want my children to be able to page through their albums fifty years from now when I am no longer hear to "read" it to them and to hear my voice and feel my love for them.  I think that is so incredibly important.

I challenge you to move beyond the basic details on your next page and write from your heart.  Make connections, share your feelings and let your voice be heard by your loved ones......forever!