Confession… I am NOT an “All About Me” scrapper. The phrase makes me cringe really, and pretty much anything that’s labeled AAM turns me away… at this point it’s almost a conditioned response. I think it’s because it sounds so all-encompassing. ALL about me. Well, I can’t possibly complete an album that’s ALL about me. It just seems an impossible task.
BUT. I have been making a conscious effort lately to reflect on my story – in small doses. I’ve realized I don’t have to cover everything there is to know. How could I? Instead, I’m adopting the philosophy that something is better than nothing. It doesn’t have to be ALL about me. It can be SOMETHING about me. Seems much more manageable.
See, I can remember as a teen, and into my young adult years, sitting with my great-grandmother, asking her questions about her life – names of the faces in her photographs or stories of being a mother – only to find that she could no longer remember. Ultimately, her story died with her, and although I spent many hours of my life sitting at her side, I realize I never really knew her. Then the other day my daughter made a very simple request of me… “Mommy, tell me what it was like when you were little.” She wanted to know something. Anything. Everything if I could manage, but anything would do. She wanted to know my favorite color, my favorite food, what I liked to do, did I have a wii when I was little – you know, the basics. The conversation made me smile, but it also made me realize the vast importance of taking the time to tell my story. Something. Anything. So that my children will always have the ability to look back and reflect on my story. So that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren don’t feel the frustration of not knowing that I once felt.
So I have vowed to stop making All About Me so intimidating. It’s not. And I figure, who better to tell my story than me? And what greater treasure to leave my children than to let them know the part of me beyond mommy? I encourage you to do the same. Pick something – anything – simple or otherwise – and just do it. One day you’ll be glad you did.
Here’s a layout I did the day my daughter asked me about my childhood. I figured I’d start at the obvious – the first childhood memory that popped into my head. So I recalled the story, and put it into layout form. Simple as that. And done. One story done. It’s not ALL about me, but it’s something. And something is a good place to start.
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