What we leave behind?

The other day I read a blog by my friend Melissa (http://northernmemories-melissa.blogspot.com) about a layout she did that she received flack over and it got me thinking...

When we take pictures, when we scrapbook, when we create a journal what is the purpose? To me it is to make my mark to let generations after me know that I was here and what the world was like when I was around. Anyone can find out what the world was like as far as the news, the world economy or entertainment go just by signing on to the internet. But my scrapbooks and journals are about my take on my little corner of the world. The population of the world was estimated at 6, 706, 993, 152 as of July 2008 that is a lot of people trying to make a mark, to say they were once here. Some people make major marks on the world like Barack Obama being the first "black" president of the US (I know that is probably politically incorrect) but my point is still the same no one will forget him if he lives to be 100. But the majority of those billions of peole are just like me, just a regular everyday person that will only be remembered by the few people who have come and gone in their lives...and how many of those people actually know you? I have an account on facebook...the newest thing right? I have 122 friends and out of those friends about 10 know the real me. Most know the part of me that I wanted them to know or the me I was when I knew them...even the 10 that know the real me don't know it all and that is what my scrapbooks and journals are for, those 10 people...my journal or scrapbook is to tell my story my way, to leave my little mark on the world for the next generation.

Every one sees things differently, I have learnt this just be listening to my brother tell a story about an event in our childhood...it is very different than how I tell my story of the same event. We were both there but we saw things from totally different angles and this creates a totally different story. This doesn't mean either of us are "wrong" it just means that we have a different story to tell. And the way you told that story when you were 8 is so different than how you tell the story 10, 20 or 30 years later...and if you are lucky you will still remember the story 50, 60 years later. To me scrapbooking isn't about pointing fingers or laying blame, it isn't about telling the world your deep dark secrets, it is about telling people how you felt in those major moments in your life...how you felt on your wedding day, the birth of your first, second, third...child, it is about losing your parents or getting a divorce. It is about how you felt about someone and how it felt when they were in your life or when you lost them. It is about your accomplishments and your dreams, who made you who you are today and why. It is about the little things that later will be big things, the going to the park with Grandpa two months before he dies. It is about the world you live in and what it is like to be you. NO one can tell you what it is like to be you, no one can tell you how you felt at a certain moment in your life, and now one can tell you how to perceive a situation and that is what your scrapbook tells the next generation, how you saw things.

I have told my mother that I will journal and scrap things the way I saw them and I will do my best not to leave behind a book filled with accusations, assumptions or blame but I will tell the truth the way I saw it. If at any time she doesn't like the way I say things she is welcome to add to it or create her own journal that tells "her" side of things, if it is really that important to her. I have learnt that some things are best to be buried with you and some things you need to pass on. You seem to learn this lesson when someone close to you passes on, and you start asking yourself how do you want the next generation to remember them? Do you want the world to know the person they were behind closed doors or do you want them to be shown the person everyone saw out in public? Of course you want a little of both but you don't want to dwell on one or the other...and that is what my scrapbooks are like. I don't like to scrap just the happy memories because I don't want future generations to get the idea that my life was a bed of roses...because that would be wrong :) I want them to see my life for the good and the bad. I want my scrapbooks to tell my story the happy moments of childhood, marriage, child birth/raising, family and friends but I want them to know the sad as well of losing a parent, divorce, disappointments and lose...because that is life. I don't mean to offend anyone when I tell my story it is only my perspective and I am sure those looking at the books will understand that and not judge people based on one side of the story...

Bottom line is I don't think we should create our scrapbooks or journals for anyone but us and if some people have a hard time looking at what we wrote about them or the situation then perhaps they should take a look at themselves, dig deep and see how important making a fuss about it is. Maybe their perception of that situation is different but it doesn't make yours wrong!!

Sorry for being winded I had a lot to say...anyway happy scrappin' ladies.