pockets revisited

So pockets and I have reunited and it feels so good. Here’s how it came about:

When I went from doing monthly pockets to doing monthly notebooks I figured I would keep the same approach. I quickly realized that I wasn’t really inspired to create that way anymore and wanted my notebooks to be less about everyday memorykeeping and more about papercrafting. I wanted to curate little creative collections of joy by mining my own life for the stories that brought me the most happiness every month. My intention was to rediscover the craft aspect of scrapbooking and not worry as much about documenting everything. The only problem…what happens when what’s noteworthy isn’t also joyful…at least not in the moment.

All throughout 2018, as I made my beloved notebook layouts, I became increasingly aware how few pictures I was printing. It was a tough year and I had a hard time coming up with happy stories every month when I didn’t really feel all that happy. Things were happening…but they weren’t exactly bringing me much joy. I was taking photos that, while not particularly noteworthy, told a more accurate story of my daily life. Wouldn’t I want to remember that stuff too? I decided to go back and look at my old pocket pages and it was eye opening. There were so many little things I didn’t remember, so much perspective to be gained. Maybe not joy in the moment, but joy for sure in retrospect. A joy that came from overcoming, surviving and moving on. It wasn’t all puppies and rainbows, and I could tell that I wasn’t all that creative…but it was real life…there was and is value in that and my pockets gave me a place to put it.

That’s why this year I realized that it didn’t have to be either or…it could be both. Evevryday photos collected monthly in pocket pages and monthly notebooks reflecting my joy of crafting and storytelling. Maybe things will overlap every so often, but like always…I’ll just enjoy the process.