The other day I was browsing my favorite scrapbooking blogs, as usual, and I saw this post by Candy Rosenberg entitled “He Understands Why Women Scrapbook”. It’s very interesting, so if you have the time, visit the link and read it.
For those in a hurry, I’ll give you a summary: this post is about a guy who served in the Navy for 20 years and his wife, who followed him no matter where he was sent. When he retired, they settled down and his wife got a job at a scrapbooking store.
Two years after that, they made a big decision and opened their own scrapbook store. Although at the time I think he didn’t understand a whole lot about the reasons for scrapbooking, he supported his wife the same way she had done for him for so many years.
At one point, she convinced him to go to a painting class. You would think such a “manly man” would be totally bored, but he actually loved it and took up painting as a hobby. He makes beautiful paintings, like these:
He understands that scrapbooking is not about buying tons of supplies, spending hours and hours working on a single album — without ever finishing it. =) He knows it’s more than that. It’s a way to bring balance to our chaotic lives, to find some time for ourselves, to let the pressure out and to be creative.
Scrapbooking Is More Than Just “Pretty Paper”
This beautiful video by Shimelle, is the perfect explanation as to why women scrapbook:
Reading that article and watching the video made me think about the reasons I scrapbook. I started scrapbooking a long time ago, and I mostly made albums about my travels. As life got busier and busier, I stopped scrapbooking for many years. Than, a few years ago, something happened that made me fall in love with scrapbooking all over again:
A very important member of my family was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s: our granny. She was the last one who remembered so many distant relatives — and some not so distant too. We have a huge collection of vintage photographs from when she was young, all thrown together in a box, with no names or dates.
All those people, and no one knew who they where, except her. And that knowledge was slowly slipping away as her disease progressed. That’s when I decided to get back to scrapbooking. I owed it to her to organize all those memories before they were gone forever. So that’s how I got back to scrapbooking. It’s very emotional for me.
What About You? Why Do You Scrapbook?
With that in mind, I’m curious to know why other people like to scrapbook. I think if you ask 10 different women, you will get 10 different answers. So what about you? Why do you scrapbook? To remember the things you love? To show what you are thankful for? To record your life and history? Share with us in the comments below!
