journaling a non-event?

Sometimes I write some general things about the subject. They might be related to what's being pictured ("You sure love this dress...." + more details) but they don't have to be. Or how the picture makes me feel. I don't always journal on these but I'm trying to get in the habit of at least a sentence about where we were, why I took the picture, or something.

 

I take photos of things I want to remember, usually. So, even if it isn't an "event", there was something about that moment I was trying to capture. Maybe the kids said something funny, or were making a funny face. For whatever reason I snapped the photo, that's what I put in my journaling. Sometimes it needs a big long back story to go with it, other times it's just a couple words "that face!!!" "THOSE SHOES!!" "she said...."

this one... a random "every day moment" that has a sentence or so:


Another random moment; I used the title for this one:


Needed some backstory...

 

If I'm just scrapping a random photo I usually have the title work or little word strips do the journaling for me.

 

I think I think a little differently. lol! I don't think of "event," rather than what was going on or what do I want to remember about this moment. I will journal with what is going on, and from different perspectives. If I'm just scrapping a pretty photo, but it's of my kids, a lot of the time, I'll say what they like to do, or why they are doing what they are doing.

I always have snippets of info... date, place, thoughts or some info. 90% of the time.

Here are some of my random pages.

 

I majority (if not 99.9%) of my pages are random photos and non-events. I tend to take a lot more photos of this type of stuff and not so much at the events (I'm thinking you mean holidays, family gatherings, school events, etc). So my journaling is emotionally driven and about the things that touched me, how it made me feel, what I want to remember, etc. So even though the photo may be of my kids, the journaling is all about me, LOL!!! Didn't realize how ego that sounded until now.

 

First I want to preface that I love to write and I do it a TON in scrapping. With that said, I don't think every page/picture/memory needs journaling (it felt wrong typing that out in the journaling forum). When I'm working on a page I think to myself, in 20 years from now am I going to remember why I took this picture? Does it speak for itself? If so, I leave it alone. If not, I decide on journaling (whether I'm writing a full story, posting date/person's name/word art). Since I am the memory keeper in my family, I need to know that others will understand the pictures without me having to explain it because some day I might not be here to do that.

 

I look at the picture and what ever comes to my head at that moment I put it down in the page. You want to write about how that person reacts to stuff or behavior is. More of what kind of person they are, not only events.

 

I don't just scrap events. I probably do more 'non events' or everyday moments.
I ask myself why I'm scrapping the photo. I also will ask myself what I would tell my cousin (she lives far away) if she were sitting by me looking at the photos. She's a close enough relative I don't get bogged down in the who the person is, but far enough away that the story needs a why for me.

Here are some of my examples, and sorry if it's overload!

This page is about when my brother came to visit and my dad couldn't find a Subway Sandwich store (there are 4 within 2 miles). And then how my son wanted to eat there constantly since that moment. It's not a big event, but because having my son yell out "There's a Subway, let's tell Papa" for a few months became a funny part of our life, it was a story I wanted to capture.


This is more an aspect of my personality. It's something that my family knows about me, but my son may not have noticed. My love for milk has a history that started as a kid. It continued in my adult years, and the fact that we used to drive to a farm just for milk instead of walk to the grocery store is a story. But the bigger story is really why.


This is one of my favorites lately. My intent was to capture that moment, not only in the photo, but in words. I wanted the reader to be able to feel like they were there on my Lazy Afternoon. To have them see things the way I do. I'm sure most people wouldn't notice the too short pants because he keeps growing, or know that he is becoming independent, or that this was at a playground.


Please don't judge this one since it was very, very early in my learning to digi scrap! This is a random photo. One day my mom made cupcakes. Which is not a story at all. But at the time, she was making at least 1 type, often 2 types daily or every other day (this day she made 3!). She isn't doing it anymore, and hasn't made cupcakes in probably months! But I smile when I see this page because those cupcakes were weird! Jello on a cupcake? If I were to just see the photo today, I might remember that mom made cupcakes that day, and maybe the jello. But I wouldn't remember the other flavors, or that she was on a total cupcake kick, or that the grandkids came by and ate all the cupcakes. Those are the who, what, where, but just a little deeper than "Mom, January 13, 2014, at her house".

 

I'm totally a non-event scrapper. And sometimes, as much as I hate to admit it, I really like to just make a page and then have to figure out a photo and journaling to go with it Much like others have said, I often scrap just to tell a story and find some generic photo to add to it. Sometimes when I'm art journaling, I'll actually use the space to draft a poem I've been thinking about.

This was one of my favorite little stories from eons ago (forgive the crazy shadowing). I had to tell it even though it had nothing to do with the photo or page really. LOL.




And here is one of my poem drafts (sorry it is a little dark subject-wise).


And this is sort of a non-event event (no photo opps or big moments)



But as a writer, I'm often vexed when I have to journal on pages. I want to add a ton of details and touch upon senses (like you do when writing), but all of those words in a text block isn't pretty. LOL.

Not that I practice what I preach, but my idea for journaling (beyond digging deeper into the 5 W's) is to get in touch with the feelings behind the story. And if that doesn't work, focus on what you remember from your senses. Even if you just add a few descriptive words about a smell, a sound (or something said), the physical feelings, etc.... it can really make a difference.