Journaling: Scoop It Out!

Scrapbooking is a way of documenting times, experiences, feelings, and events. Making it possible to share with others who were not there and to remind us of moments past. Journaling can provide a better grasp on what it was actually like to be there and experience that.

I have a Book of Remembrance that my mother kept for me as a baby. It records her feelings and some of the excitement in my family after I was born. (I was the first girl after 4 boys.) Obviously I cannot remember what happened and being able to read that over and look at the pictures helps me to feel the love and excitement they felt for me.

Think of ice cream. A nice warm homemade waffle cone holding three layers of different flavours of ice cream. (Food should keep you interested!) We put a lot of time into making the cone, or scrapbook page, and but inside it is where the real goodness is.

Adding a first layer of journaling is pretty easy. It's easy to write down when the photo took place, who is in it, how old they are, what they are doing, and where they are. That first layer is tasty and important on its own. Many times the first layer is done through the title and adding a little date on the bottom. It is setting the stage of the event.

If we want to add another scoop of journaling, we could add a few more details like exploring what you or others were feeling. You could tell what happened before the photos were taken or after; what lead up to that moment of what inspired you to take the photo in the first place.

If you want to add a last scoop to the top of that great waffle cone, a few important writing tools can be used.

One writing tool is to use words that end in "ly." This creates visual imagery for the reader. Visual imagery helps others see in their own minds an object as if it were right there.

Another sensory imagery is to use concrete images that engage the senses of the listener. It is sharing things you felt, tasted, touched, or any of the things you experience with your senses. If you share what the moment felt like to hold your new baby boy for the first time or how his small quick breaths on your cheek felt for the first time, it will really help him imagine he could remember the moment. Sensory imagery helps keep the memories alive, helps others feel it, and makes it more real for the readers through engaging the sense memory of the reader.

I understand that not every page is going to have a long, beautifully written explanation using all of these tips, but by improving our journaling on some of our pages, we will be able to help others experience the moments better and help us remember them.

As a great author William Wordsworth once wrote, "fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."