Oscraps

Addiction? Obsession? True confession, no judgement please.

LauraD

LauraD

Scrapbooking reminds us that life is beautiful.
CHEERY O
So, I just got back from vacation and I am working on my scrapbook (you may have seen my Hawaiian themed pages lately?). Well, I realized something. I may be obsessed or addicted to scrapbooking my life. I feel like I need to capture every minute by photograph so I can scrapbook it. Or maybe so I can remember to journal about it on my scrapbook page? Either way, I took over 8,000 photos in our 16 day vacation! Also, with doing a weekly page for project life, I photograph so many things just to scrapbook about them. I may be going overboard. This has become more than a hobby. It's a way of life, an everyday task, and necessary or I get anxiety if I didn't get the photo I wanted, or forgot to photograph something. Yes, I literally got anxiety the other day when I made my pups "birthday cupcakes", but forgot to take a photo of the cupcakes before they devoured them. How can I scrapbook that if I don't even show what the cupcakes are like? Yes, these are my thoughts.

Why do I feel the need to scrapbook everything? Why does it feel so relaxing to compartmentalize all of my photos into files of events, then those photos into scrapbook pages, then enough journaling to tell the story.

Tell the story! That is what my albums are about. Tell my story. Every year of my life has been scrapbooked (the first half was only just a few pages per year, but hey, at least I have that). Now I do project life where my whole year is like a diary.

Part of my story is that I cannot have children. My husband does not want to adopt and I tried Foster Parenting for a bit, but the bottom line is, there will be no children to hand my albums down to. I suppose I have nieces and nephews that may want them. But not only will my family tree stop at my branch, my husband's entire family branch stops at our generation. My husband's father has one brother who had one daughter. My husband's father had two children- two sons. There will be no children from any of us this generation, meaning that this entire branch of the Dulle's ends with us. It's a powerful thought. I was given the family heritage albums because I am the family "memory keeper". But who's going to want them when I am gone? I often wonder about what will happen to my albums when I am gone. I do know that I post all of my pages on my personal Facebook page and I have many fans who take the time to read my journaling, and look at my pages. That makes me happy that people see them. Makes it worth the work. They get printed and go on a shelf, and come out occasionally (usually to settle an argument about a memory and we say "go check the scrapbook").

I am grateful for documenting my life so well. Even if it is just for me. Even if it is an obsession or an addiction. My scrapbooking has been there for me through some pretty rough times over the past few years, and it is a way for me to remember that "Life is beautiful". That makes it worth it.

Thanks for listening.
 
There's so much to say in response to your thought-provoking questions. First, you are not alone! All that you mentioned applies to many of us in digiland, even if not exactly. People have always made scrapbooks, of course, long before digital cameras and digital supplies were available. Why do we scrapbook? My easy answer to you is that your life is important! It might be only or mostly important to you and to your husband, but by chronicling it you have the means to look back, to reminisce, to enjoy all the memories. Now with all the digital supplies available to us, you can also have the fun of making your books artistic. And that's a worthy goal in itself! You and I have been scrapping on sites together for several years so you might know how strongly I believe that our acts of creativity add beauty to the world, and that's not trivial. As far as anxiety goes, someone with psychology training could address that. However, my non-professional opinion is: Just give yourself permission to let some things slide. Be kind to yourself. It's your life, after all. You can let things slide and just chronicle the highlights, and that's OK, too. I'll be interested to see what others have to say. Sending big hugs your way. :hug4: You got me started on Project Life and I'm glad you did.
 
LauraD said:
So, I just got back from vacation and I am working on my scrapbook (you may have seen my Hawaiian themed pages lately?). Well, I realized something. I may be obsessed or addicted to scrapbooking my life. I feel like I need to capture every minute by photograph so I can scrapbook it. Or maybe so I can remember to journal about it on my scrapbook page? Either way, I took over 8,000 photos in our 16 day vacation! Also, with doing a weekly page for project life, I photograph so many things just to scrapbook about them. I may be going overboard. This has become more than a hobby. It's a way of life, an everyday task, and necessary or I get anxiety if I didn't get the photo I wanted, or forgot to photograph something. Yes, I literally got anxiety the other day when I made my pups "birthday cupcakes", but forgot to take a photo of the cupcakes before they devoured them. How can I scrapbook that if I don't even show what the cupcakes are like? Yes, these are my thoughts.

Why do I feel the need to scrapbook everything? Why does it feel so relaxing to compartmentalize all of my photos into files of events, then those photos into scrapbook pages, then enough journaling to tell the story.

Tell the story! That is what my albums are about. Tell my story. Every year of my life has been scrapbooked (the first half was only just a few pages per year, but hey, at least I have that). Now I do project life where my whole year is like a diary.

Part of my story is that I cannot have children. My husband does not want to adopt and I tried Foster Parenting for a bit, but the bottom line is, there will be no children to hand my albums down to. I suppose I have nieces and nephews that may want them. But not only will my family tree stop at my branch, my husband's entire family branch stops at our generation. My husband's father has one brother who had one daughter. My husband's father had two children- two sons. There will be no children from any of us this generation, meaning that this entire branch of the Dulle's ends with us. It's a powerful thought. I was given the family heritage albums because I am the family "memory keeper". But who's going to want them when I am gone? I often wonder about what will happen to my albums when I am gone. I do know that I post all of my pages on my personal Facebook page and I have many fans who take the time to read my journaling, and look at my pages. That makes me happy that people see them. Makes it worth the work. They get printed and go on a shelf, and come out occasionally (usually to settle an argument about a memory and we say "go check the scrapbook").

I am grateful for documenting my life so well. Even if it is just for me. Even if it is an obsession or an addiction. My scrapbooking has been there for me through some pretty rough times over the past few years, and it is a way for me to remember that "Life is beautiful". That makes it worth it.

Thanks for listening.
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I think it's both, and I hope they don't find a cure for either. I'm totally with you on both of these , thousands of pictures and I can barely make myself delete any. The big difference between us is you are getting something done, where 98% of my Hawaii pictures are still trapped in hard drive limbo. My husband is OCD, not as bad as some of his siblings, but sometimes I have to draw his attention to that bathroom towel I just used & folded while brushing my teeth. He's brushing his teeth next and doesn't need to wipe the sink & refold the towel before he can brush his teeth, he obsesses over minor details. I need a cross between my loosey goosey attitude of never finishing to his standard of perfection. I'm not saying you are OCD. We do this obsession or addiction for joy and fulfillment of one kind or another, but when the joy starts getting run over by the forgotten cupcake photo or whatever it might be then I step back & remember the why behind it. I want to turn pages & look at my photos, the ones that mean the most to me. I have 100 s of my garden, which I love, but if the worst was coming at me, I would grab the ones with travel pictures and my grands. I realize you can't do the latter but are the travel pictures or your daily happenings more important I bring you the most joy. I don't have albums from growing up, I barely have pictures, but my life isn't always the details I want to remember, but those trips, we don't travel much, never had the money, but they bring me the most joy. I understand you have every day of your life, but has that become the why? It's always been done, I can't break the pattern or my life won't be fulfilled. It's the whole reason I don't do project life. Can you streamline that by maybe doing monthly recaps. I'm the last person to offer advice to anyone about anything, my life has been a train wreck lately, if I think of all the moments I've missed, the last 8 years because of a grown child's temper tantrums, I would be a basket case. I cherish the special moments I do get and those are the ones I scrap. I do sometimes scrap for emotional relief, I did one recently that was very cathartic, but it was a memory that meant something I want to always remember. I don't know what the future is bringing, so I try not to dwell on future what will happen whens- The world is so volatile right now I'm happy when I wake up in the morning. Everyone has their own why, their own idea of joy, but I've always had an aversion to anything that's always been done a certain way . We can't do anything spontaneous because, wash is always done on Monday, we have to change sheets on Wednesday. I have to tamper my spontaniety, which isn't always easy ,... oh look a chickenEveryone has their own why, their own idea of joy, but I've always had an aversion to anything that's always been done a certain way . We can't do anything spontaneous because, wash is always done on Monday, we have to change sheets on Wednesday. I have to tamper my spontaniety, which isn't always easy ,... oh look a chicken.I don't have any psychology background either, just the ramblings of someone who should probably finish what she started today. you are not . alone, we all struggle with finding that balance.
 
Why... that's the million-dollar question, isn't it? I think you got your own answer there at the end... Some go to therapy; some turn to drink... you scrapbook...

LauraD said:
My scrapbooking has been there for me through some pretty rough times over the past few years, and it is a way for me to remember that "Life is beautiful". That makes it worth it.
Click to expand...

We look at the photos, we reflect and reminisce... we arrange - or rearrange - them into a story... it's a bit like rewriting history and making sense of what happened and how we feel about it. Similar to having a chat with your BFF where you get to talk, while they listen and nod in understanding.

My two cents re cupcake anxiety... The fact that you forgot to take a photo of those cupcakes you made suggests - at least deep down on that subconscious level - you are not as obsessed as you believe you are. And not having a photo is not a reason to not scrap the event - after all you poured all your love into those treats and your pups loved them so your journaling can go along the lines of 'I was so in-the-moment I completely forgot to snap a pic so here's what is was supposed to be (a screenshot of the recipe?) and here is how much my pups loved them'. And a bit of the story of why you chose that recipe and how the rest of the day went. At least that's what I do when I don't have the photos for the event I want to scrap.
 
@LauraD Laura, digital scrapping is addictive and obsessive and wonderful all at the same time. It even changes how you look at the world. There is a story around every corner just waiting to be told. You have gotten excellent suggestions. You asked if it was an obsession. @JeanneMN brings up a valid point. Are you doing this because “It's always been done, I can't break the pattern or my life won't be fulfilled. Can you streamline that by maybe doing monthly recaps.”

Doing a monthly recaps instead of Project Life like Jeanne mentioned would be a great way to “Just give yourself permission to let some things slide. Be kind to yourself” as mentioned by @FloridaGranny. @Jam-on-toast had a very good suggestion about the cupcakes “. . . you poured all your love into those treats and your pups loved them so your journaling can go along the lines of 'I was so in-the-moment I completely forgot to snap a pic so here's what is was supposed to be (a screenshot of the recipe?) and here is how much my pups loved them'. And a bit of the story of why you chose that recipe and how the rest of the day went.” You can still include a picture of the pups. Sometimes we need to switch it up a little bit.

I have taken a hard look at my own scrapping pattern. I struggled to have children and had high risk pregnancies and was confined to complete bedrest. I was blessed with 3 children. But, grandchildren aren’t in the picture for me. My grandchildren are angel babies. I get my grandchild fix with the children of my nieces and nephews. You mentioned nieces and nephews but didn’t say if you are close to them. If you are and attend family functions with them, maybe you could scrap these events and share the pages with family. By doing that it might spark some interest in your treasured books and give you an idea of who might like to have your books later on.

My aunt had no children and asked me to please take her photo albums because she knew I would treasure them. It was so important to her that she insisted I take them months before she died. It gave her peace of mind knowing that I had them.

Scrapping feeds your soul and celebrates your life. I hope you can find some answers so that you are not experiencing anxiety over such a pleasurable outlet.
 
Thanks @bitzee. Yes, I am close to my nieces and nephews and do scrap them a lot (they make up half of my book and my dogs make up 1/4 of it lol) but that was more about who will care about these albums after I am gone. I guess that is not for me to worry about anyway.

I don't know, I guess I feel better after the above rant. I am overthinking things. I just need to be me, do things for me and if no one else likes it, it doesn't matter- I am doing this for me.
 
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