I gave away all my scrapbook things. We’re talking everything. New albums. Paper. Pens. Stickers. Funky scissors and rulers. It was really difficult, but it was time. My fine motor skills have gotten worse, and scrapbooking greatly exacerbates my pain.
I’ve been a serious album maker for many years. I got my first stash when our son was a baby. I went to a Creative Memories show and came home with $200 worth of supplies. Back then (well, even now) that was a lot of money. I came in the house and Greg said, “You’d better use that stuff.” I stayed up late that night making my first scrapbook of our son. Since then I’ve made holiday albums, sports albums, ABC albums, quilt albums, heritage albums, everyday happenings albums, anniversary albums, celebration albums… So much time and detail. Every word handwritten. (Link to a cool song that is loosely related)
One of my favorite memories is walking into our family room and finding my then 10-year-old son and all his neighborhood friends (who all went to school together), gathered around looking at his Kindergarten album. Yes, I have an entire album just for Kindergarten!
It’s been a week and a half since I gave everything away, and I’m still a little sad. Greg has been super nice. I think some guys wouldn’t understand how hard this was. But he did. He also told me, though, that this was a way of taking care of myself.
I found a unique group of young women to give my things to–the “Groovy Girls Collective.” They describe themselves as “a community gathering place devoted to supporting, educating, and mentoring women of all ages, nurturing collaborative creators both locally and worldwide.” (I may be giving up something, but if it has a world-wide impact, that’s OK with me.) One of my neighbors’ daughters is involved, and I contacted her, who said they would definitely like some scrapbook supplies. Here’s a few pictures from their Facebook page.
Visiting an animal shelter.
A lemonade stand.
Although I’m sad, I’m also excited, as I can already tell these young women are having lots of fun and great things are happening. Maybe some of these pictures will end up in a scrapbook one day.
The Self-Compassion Project 
Wow, what a HUGE commitment to yourself and your self-care. By so thoughtfully gifting your supplies and embracing self-compassion, you’ve shown both courage and self-love in practice. Thank you.
Thank you for your nice words. They mean so much!
I need to add self-compassion to my gratitude list; grateful that self-compassion found me and that I have chosen to embrace it.
Yes, self-compassion is definitely something to be grateful for. Thanks for stopping by!
I call it sharing and giving in. Never giving up. Thank you for sharing.
Love that!
Wow. Good for you! My wife is a scrapbooker too, but the problem I have is that we have six boys and unless we put these memories in an internet scrapbook we will lose them all…
Yes, I have wanted to look into digital scrapbooking. 6 boys! I bet they have kept you all busy!
There is no word for it… 😀
I scrapbook too. i have a massive stash of stuff that I feel like I really should sort out and pass on things I know I won’t use. It must be so hard to come to terms with not being able to do something that you love doing any more. I feel for you, and I’m glad you’ve found some people that will really appreciate your supplies 🙂 Have you considered the photo-pocket type of scrapbooking as an alternative? Something like Project Life, which can be as basic or as complicated as you want it to be?
I know what you mean about watching your son look through his album – I get a real kick when my son asks to look at the scrapbook albums 🙂
I have heard of Project Life. I will have to look into that. Thanks for writing. I really appreciate it!
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Wonderful, you have a big heart and I’m sure the group will put good use to your donation of scrapbook supplies! I love your photo albums too by the way, the one with your Valentine’s day card from Greg and your photos as a couple was especially cute. I like the notes you wrote in too! 🙂