Well, my interviews continue. They’re getting better, I think. I enjoy meeting the other scrappers, of course and I love, Love, LOVE seeing all the albums of the different scrapbookers. People are so creative. Making a decision is not as difficult as one might think. So, with just a few more interviews to go, I’ll be hiring my first scrapbooking staff! Pretty exciting stuff.
However, interviews aren’t really what’s on my mind.
Not so long ago, I wrote about my ideas for Mother’s Day. Sadly, none of my ideas came to fruition. I suppose a week of interviews (which are not finished yet) can take up a lot of free time. Which is really what I want to talk about today. Where do scrappers find time to work on their albums? We’ve all got jobs or families or both and we’re all juggling a lot of adult responsibilities (oh no! Not the ‘A’ word!). So, when do we find the time to scrap a page or two?
Well, if you’re me, you simply don’t. I haven’t created a page in month! That’s right, you read that correctly… a whole month. I’ve done some other papercrafting, like make cards or help my daugthers design some fun paper craft projects… but when it comes to documenting and preserving those precious memories, my time has been limited.
Then it occurred to me. Perhaps my issue isn’t time. My issue is attitude. I know that sounds crazy, but bear with me a moment. When I scrap a page, it’s usually when I’ve got nothing else to do because I’m all caught up on washing, laundry, paper work and any other responsibility you can think of. The kids are usually in bed and the hubby is either working late or doing something on the computer. And I’m left to my own private scrap time. It’s no wonder I hardly find the time… when does any woman get all of the above at any one given time.
So what’s wrong with this picture? The attitude, of course. ”any other responsibility”? What’s that all about? I mean, don’t I have a responsibility to document our lives for future generations? To preserve those precious memories that we wish our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers had done, but for the majority of us, didn’t? Scrapbooking a page in my album is not a luxury, it’s a necessity which should fall into the responsibility category. If I don’t get these pages done on a regular basis, then when will they ever get done?
And let’s face it, scrapbooking makes us feel better. It relieves stress, allows creative expression which in turn gives us a healthier emotional life. I love my moments scrapbooking, but it’s time to start treating my hobby as more than a leisure activity to be gotten to when everything else has been taken care of. At this rate, by the time my kids get married, I’ll be just finishing up their baby albums.
Time for scrapbooking is like making time for exercise or a shower. It should be done on a regular basis. It should be scheduled in to a day’s activities. Things To Do: Call my mother, go grocery shopping, pick up dry-cleaning, wash load of kids’ clothes, scrap a page in album, go to bank, etc.
If we don’t start treating our hobby as a necessity, we’ll only feel worse later. (At least, I will anyway.)
Happy Scrappin’!