Finding Balance in Memory Keeping and Scrapbooking

The other day at Micheal's I met a really sweet lady in the Project Life isle.

 We quickly struck up a conversation about scrapbooking. 

I mean, that's what you do at Micheal's, right? 

We discussed the cost, the time and what she called pressures to document every moment. She shared with me how she use to scrapbook all the time, spending lots of time and money on her pages. 
Then she said that all at once it all became so overwhelming and so stressful that she just up and sold all of her supplies and scrapbooking tools. Then she said, (this really shocked me) that she actually quit taking pictures for at least two years.

Isn't that just so sad.

This poor lady made scrapbooking so hard, that she just gave up.
I think that is what a lot of women are doing and it really makes me sad.
 It really doesn't have to be that way.

Her reason for being at Micheal's that day? 
Well, now has she decided to start a Project Life album.  I was glad  to see that she is trying again but I fear she is putting the same kind of pressure on herself to document everything. She said she was trying the weekly documenting. Where you document your life every week. Oh my, that sounds like a lot of pressure to me!

 I believe she is going to find herself in the same boat again, and just give up...again. 
I know, for me, that would be too hard.

My December Daily proved to be too much for me this year! lol

I am telling you all of this because I think I can help.

I have a suggestion for those of you who have fallen victim to the pressures of doing it all and are feeling overwhelmed when it comes to scrapbooking and memory keeping. 

 The first thing I want you to realize is that scrapbooking is not suppose to be work!  

Don't make it more important than it really is on your to do list.

 It's really about wanting to remember good times with your family and friends and all the  blessing that God has given you. 
It's Not a documentary on your day to day.

My Suggestion is very simple but it works!

This is how I did my memory keeping for years.

 It is inexpensive, takes hardly any time at all and you won't miss a thing.

So here it goes...

When my kids were very little and I was busy running a business, being a wife and a mother, there was no time to scrapbook. Nor was there money, but I still didn't want to miss out on my memory keeping. 
I loved the blessings that God had provided us and I wanted to be sure we would never forget.

So here is what I did...

 I simply took pictures of the people and things I wanted to remember. I would have those  photos developed as I could afford it.  Then I would buy cheap $2, 4x6 photo albums from Walmart or Big Lots. I fill them with all those photos and wrote down dates and names on the inside cover and put them away.

Simple as that!

I didn't miss anything, I didn't spend a ton of time and money and most of all, I didn't get overwhelmed and quit.

For years my girls would flip through these little books and enjoy all the memories those little books held. The photos were protected and in order and  we still were able to enjoy them. They were not pretty and they didn't have any journaling in them except maybe a place, time or a name. I did always put the year or season. 

I was just too busy living life to sit and spend hours journaling at that time.

 And that was okay!

Now fast forward 18 years and I have drawers filled with those little photo albums. I am so thankful to my mother who encouraged me to date my albums. She was right, the years do run together, so dates are very important.

Now that my life has slowed down a bit, I am able to go back and begin to scrapbook all those wonderful memories! Which is why I now hove a shelf full of beautiful scrapbooks!

  I can spend as little or as much time as I want 

and enjoy the process without the pressure.
I'm actually going to be sad on the day that I do catch up! 
I am enjoying pulling from those little albums and scrapbooking them one by one. 

 I refuse to feel rushed or behind on my scrapbooking.

My whole point is this...

Scrapbooking does not have to be hard and it doesn't have to be now. 
Give yourself a break!

If  you are too busy to scrapbook, and are feeling overwhelmed, don't just quit. Take a step back. Try just living life, taking pictures and putting them away.

 There will be time later to make them beautiful!

 Scrapbooking is suppose to be fun and a wonderful creative outlet. 

Don't let the pressure of having to get it done now steal your joy!