Why do you scrapbook?

I have been surfing blogs and reading a lot of post about the amount of controversy there is surrounding scrapbooking right now. I really don't understand why there is so much anger over some of the things that are happening. The reasons that we scrapbook are all so different! I bet if you asked 10 people the question, you would get 11 different answers. I only know this one thing - the reason is not even half as important as the action! What I mean by that is even if the only reason that you scrapbook is to get published, or to get on a design team, or to win prizes, does it matter that that is why you're doing it? Isn't it more important that your families history is getting recorded? That the people you love will be able to look at the pages that you made and see what they were like when they were 2, how they sang at their first school play, what the apartment that they lived in afer college looked like, etc etc. Fill in the blanks.



I scrapbook because of the stories that my grandmother told me when I was a little girl. She took so much joy out of telling us about the times that she was late getting her chores (apparently it happened often) done and ended up going to the well after dark where her brother proceeded to scare the bejezus out of her. Or how she made all of here families clothes (including coats), linens and comforters (ie quilts) because they could not afford to buy these things. She was an amazing seamstress because of this. She taught us how to make soap (the nastiest thing ever! Thank the Lord for Dove!) and grow our own food. These were all of the things that she passed down to her grandkids but times have changed so much that I know these traditions will die with my generation. This is why I scrapbook.



I scrapbook because I have never seen a picture of any of my grandparents parents with the exception of my great grandfather. I know very little about any of them. The last time we visited my grandmother (she loves photos and has them all over her house) I could vividly recall not just the people in the photos but things that they had done and conversations that we had had over the years but my daughter had no idea who 90% of the people were (some were my brother and sisters when they were little). It was like I could see into the future. That would be my grandkids if I did not scrapbook.



I scrapbook because my kids don't believe me when I say things like: Home computers did not exist when I was a little girl; There were no scanners at the grocery store, the clerks put everything in by hand; Telephones had dials on them; There were no cell phones, at all; We did not have the ability to get cable because we lived outside of the city limits and there was no satellite; Credit cards were processed manually; You had to roll the windows of your card down manually, no little button; No CD's - only 8 tracks (what's that she asked).



I know that I have rambled a bit but this was just something that I have been thinking about and wanted to share. My wish for us all is this: That regardless of the reasons that we scrapbook, that we continue to scrapbook. That if you are fortunate enough to create work that other people like and they tell you, that you continue to do that while still being charitable to the rest of us. That if you create pages that you, and only you like, that you be blessedly happy with what that. That if even you hate your pages, at least your journaling is fantastic!



What we are all striving for, regardless of the reasons that we scrapbook, is saving our memories for future generations. It is a gift after all. Have a great night. Shere


PS love how this layout turned out. It is all boy. Used a sketch from Becky Fleck's PageMaps site to create and K&Co paper.