LET'S GET PERSONAL | INSPIRATION FOR DOCUMENTING YOURSELF - Part One
Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share that today my newest class at Big Picture Classes, YOUnique, launches! If you've been following along on this mini blog series and finding much of what I have said has resonated with you then you'll love this new class. It's entirely about documenting yourself, something I have been doing for a while. This year, I decided to make a mini scrapbook and I'm sharing it in my class along with tutorial videos, free journal cards, documenting prompts and printables! If you haven't checked out my class already, be sure to do so here.
See more of my 6x8 personal scrapbook in my class, YOUnique, at Big Picture Classes! Products shown are from Felicity Jane.
If you're not already a member of Big Picture Classes, I'm giving away at 30 day subscription where you can view my class, YOUnique, a fun self-paced class full of inspiration, prompts, and free downloads! !
PLUS, if you go to my post on Instagram and tag a friend, they can win too!
In case you have missed the other posts in this blog series and want to learn more about documenting yourself, here are the other posts:
1. DOCUMENTING YOURSELF AND FITTING INTO THE "I DON'T" OR "I WANT TO" CATEGORIES.
2. DOCUMENTING YOURSELF AND COMBATING WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK
I hope you're feeling inspired and eager to tell your story. I have some wonderful inspiration for you. These talented, beautiful women currently document themselves and tell their stories in a variety of ways. I thought perhaps you might enjoy what they have to share.
First up is Sabrina, who documents her story in this adorable planner!
Here are some notes from Sabrina:
As a busy Mom of two kids I have come to realize how easy it is to get caught up in the daily life, management of the house, taking care of kids and the stuff of our lives. It is so easy to come to end of the long day and realize I didn't do anything for myself. I discovered a few months ago I needed to change that because I was worn out in all capacities. I began finding time for myself because I understood that if my 'bucket' was empty then how could I take care of others? I would say no to leaving the house for yet another activity, I would let my kids play independently more or I would just let the house chores go. Taking care of myself, even if it was only 5 minutes, needed to become a priority. Once I found these little chunks of time I realized how much happier it made me and I was a better Mom and wife. Then, my daughter entered preschool and I was blessed with a few half days to myself. I decided to really dive into this self care thing and instead of just doing self care, I would also document my life. I started a "me planner" using a mini happy planner and I just jot down a few thoughts from the day. I also add in a few photos to highlight my favorites for the week. My journaling tends to focus on my focus words- happy, my one little word from last year and this year's word, cultivate. I am loving documenting my week and how I am finding my time to love myself, find more happy and cultivate what truly makes me the best me. Finding this time for myself hasn't been easy, but it is so worth it. I'm an overall happier person just by doing self care and jotting down my thoughts. Finding the time, making the time and asking for time is one of the best decisions I've made and it brings me such to joy to be documenting my story and loving myself more.
Do you love this idea as much as I do? This is something can easily be done daily or weekly and it allows you to keep a simple, chronological record of your thoughts, routine and gratitude. To see more of Sabrina's project and her creativity, visit her on Instagram or Facebook.
Next, we have Eloise Creates who currently is documenting herself in a journal format. In addition, she's including stories about other people who are close to her.
Here's a note from Eloise Creates:
The reason I document anything is to remember. I have always felt inspired to document stories. I kept journals growing up, which is the primary reason I scrapbook—to me [this project] is like a beautiful journal.
The only perspective I can genuinely write about is my own, which is why I document myself and my experiences. I can guess what another person may be feeling, but in the end, the most authentic story I can tell is going to be mine. Recording the events, experiences, and relationships that make up all of the bits and pieces of myself allows me to look back through my life, and make connections between different experiences that I may not have seen at the time. Giving my stories and feelings a place to rest on the pages of my various scrapbooks has allowed me to gain perspective on difficult times, relish in the happy memories, and lets me see my personal growth from challenges I have faced. I document myself to recognize and remember that which I truly value in life.
This is so beautiful! I just adore her focus on the words and stories. What a fantastic project. I can't even begin to tell you how in love with this I am! You can follow Eloise Creates on Instagram and YouTube.
Here's another great idea from Nicole.
Here's what Nicole has to share with us:
I recently began to document my life by journaling small snippets of my days, inside of my Traveler’s Notebook Weekly Planner. One day I suddenly realized that just as I see value in documenting my kids’ lives and recording all their special moments, they too would see value in me documenting mine. Maybe not right now, at this current time, but likely some day down the road they will. So journaling not only gives me something to look back on, myself, but it hopefully, will give my children something to look back on and treasure down the road, when I am no longer here with them. My journals are a small glimpse of me, to those I love… they are my heart, my thoughts, my feelings, my dreams, my hopes… my journals are me… my real life stories.
With traveler's notebooks being all the rage right now, Nicole's diary pages are so on point! She can take this project with her, document on the go and as often as she likes. I love this! You can see more of Nicole's project on her blog or Instagram.
Last up we have Julie who currently documents herself in an 8x8 traditional scrapbook.
Here are some thoughts from Julie:
I have been scrapbooking for about 20 years. I started pre-kids and pre-marriage and enjoyed the creative process. As my life evolved my scrapbooking did as well. As I had children my scrapbooking became centered around them and as the years went on I was in fewer and fewer pictures. For some reason pre-kids it was normal to get pictures take with my friends or husband. So for a short time I contemplated getting in more photos and had moments of guilt thinking it was a selfish act of vanity. After much debate with myself I suddenly had a moment where I thought how silly it was to feel bad or ashamed to ask to be in the photos or to take an occasional selfie. Because if I don't get in the photos there will be no visual documentation of large portions of my life.
I decided that someday my kids were going to want to know more about me. I already had their childhood covered in our family albums. But later they might possibly be curious about my youth as well as the years when I was raising them. I decided that the best person to tell the stories is myself and in the way I enjoy most; SCRAPBOOKING.
I just started this ME album and have found it very fulfilling personally. I have not shared it yet with my children but will once I get a small collection of pages/stories.
Julie's scrapbook is so lovely in a traditional sense. She's taken the time to creatively make pages that tell HER stories. I love that she's doing this for her children and her self simultaneously. You can find more from Julie on Instagram.
Loving all this inspiration? I will have more for you in the next post. In the meantime, I'd love to hear what ways you are currently documenting yourselves and see your projects. Tag me on Instagram @turquoiseavenue or hashtag your projects #tellmystorymyway