Hi, my name is Ali...

Ugh - I totally know what you mean, because I struggle with the same problem frequently. I think the part about being present is key - paying attention to, listening to, and creating memories with those I love, rather than just scrapping them!

I thought I was the only one who dealt with this. I feel the same way. It's finally spring, I can be in my garden and I'm thinking about scrapbooking. I want to enjoy the moments, not just document them.

I so get what you are saying. I have struggled with this since my life changed.
{r}

dh occassionally complains that scrapbooking is always on my brain. And I can barely disagree with him when he says this. It's hard not to shut that part of my brain off!

you're right...awareness is the first step. i can totally relate, having my business in my home. i know of the struggle with home/work/family/life, i know about working in your jammies and trying to be professional on the phone, i know about being drawn to my studio more than i should, i know about spending too much time "in there" as opposed to being "out there" with "them". i'm trying to find that happy medium myself.

Feelin you on that! My husband is like, Hi? Are you married to me, or the computer, lol!! It is very hard to "get away" from something that lives in your soul...It consumes your every thought, a new inspiration, an awesome idea. Ya know, some may call this OCD. I call it PASSION. Besides, you can TOTALLY pray while creating, I do it every day ;)

I wrote in my journal yesterday the following:
"You are a mother 100% of the time, even when you are the wife or trying to be just a "self" - the mother overlaps into everything else all the time."
As I stand at my art table trying to work on something while my 4 year old asks repetitively, grabbing my arm "when are you going to play with me" even though I've already sat on the floor in his room playing for an hour and last night when I'm trying to read my teenager sits and asks if she can have Prom dinner at our house next Saturday for 16 kids and can her boyfriend come to the beach with us for "just one" of the weeks and she wants an IPOD for her 18th birthday with all of the accessories.
And I really do understand what my grandmother meant when she said that if one more person asked her something "SHE WAS GOING TO RUN SCREAMING INTO THE ROAD!" This translates alot better if said in a Southern - rural - North Carolina accent!!
Good Luck with the balance thing - been trying for 18 years and I can honestly say I've had - maybe a few months in there of balance - but that's about all.
Michelle

Me, too. My mind is never where it should be. I can't focus!

Well just like everyone else, I too can relate. I have recently decided to give up a business that I started pretty much for this very reason. I have young kids, and I just came to the conclusion that now is just not the time. My youngest son spent his first year strapped in a carseat while I ran all over town keeping up with my business and I finally had to take a hard look at myself and realize that he and I were both getting ripped off. Plus I never had time to scrapbook. LOL. When my first two were little I never had any "me" time, ever. And that's not right either. Now I feel I went too far the other way. It's hard to try to do it all, I lost sight of what was important for a while because for me, right now, I signed on to be a full time mom and really that's what I want to do. And take a lot of pictures, and scrapbook, oh yeah, and pay attention to my husband. That's a biggie, need to work on that one more.....
Hang in there chickie, you will find your balance.

Balance is hard...

Yep. Therein lies the rub of the home-office/office-home. It all blends together into one big glob of kids/projects/husband/cleaning/deadlines/chores. It's so hard to work on a project without the thought of the toilet that needs cleaning creeping in or fixing dinner without the thought of a layout that needs tweaking interfering. Balance. Argh.

It is so very hard to find a balance. It has been my main goals this year. I realize that something had to give and after weighing what truly mattered in my mind... the choice was easy.
Considering your work load and deadlines I am sure you are doing so much better then most. So hang in there, and breathe! Your are only human! Don't be hard on yourself!
Shelley

Although I don't have an in-house studio or the luxury of working from home, I still find myself creating all the time... in my mind... lurking and anxious to get out. Get home and sit down at my table in my little corner of the living room. Create. And, spend time w/my kids, too. Balance, me thinks, can be very elusive to us all... whether working at home or outside the home. The desire to create brings us great joy, but can become all-consuming if we let it. And, Ali... if you find the answer to the "balance question", please let us ALL know! :)

Ali this is exactly why I feel like I need to move my scrap stuff out of my bedroom! I can't relax...can't have a place of peace....and rest. I totally see what you are saying!

Yes...this is so hard. I have SO much wanted to do an entry in my blog about balance...
But I need to arrive first to talk about it!
Or not. Will I ever arrive?
A TON of us are in the same boat, for sure.
T.

Oh how I understand that! It's been really hard on Nic lately--I come home from work and instantly disappear into the scrapbook room. He's been picking up the slack around the house, entertaining himself, and not complaining much, but I wonder how long I'll be granted this "grace period"...I just love it so much! I laugh at the workaholics at work--wonder how they could possibly spend 10-12 hours there every single day...but at home in my studio I am no different from them. I often feel like what I *need* is to become a faster scrapper, but in truth I probably just need to respect time outs! :)

Life is not a matter of milestones but of moments. ~Rose Kennedy
A wonderful book my mom gave me is called "What's so Amazing about Grace" by Phillip Yancy. The words have helped my everyday routines...just life become moments that I appreciate more so! enjoy!

I definately think awareness it the first step. I believe in changing things a little at a time, b/c when we try to do a HUGE overhaul we end up scrapping the whole idea. Good Luck!

soon to be writing....
--"Confessions of a scrap-aholic"
--"Confessions of a stamp-aholic"
and
--"Confessions of a blog-aholic"....

I can seriously relate to this. I have really thought a lot about balance the past year. My "hobby" has now literally turned into a 45+ HOURS a week career. The hard part is, I still refuse to work during the day....so all of my work is done once my little guy is in bed. I am starting to really wear myself out...but it seems like it's necessary to do this much to to keep up with all of my design projects/assignments/deadlines. Some days I feel like I could just scream. However....I also think I am just afraid that if I let an opportunity pass me by, that I will regret it later on. *sigh* I'm not sure what the solution is. All I know is....I'm pooped. :-)

I am very much the same way!

ahhh life. there is an ebb and flow to everything and somedays i'm more ebbing than flowing. i joined shimelle's creative art journal class and my first entry is my mission statement for achieving balance. i'm torn between the graphic/linear style and also erratic collage so i hope to find some balance in my creative pursuits. and in my personal life i am torn between work,family,and time for my art. i think the class may serve as a therapeutic outlet...yup,that is so true: acknowledgement is the first step!

Right there with ya. I just got off a hiatus. Just had to get out of the home studio and be for a bit. Felt good and rejunivated myself.

This is something I have been struggling with as well.
I came across the following this morning during my devotions and it really struck me:
"Nobody was busier than Jesus, yet He was never in a hurry. He had a lot more to do than you, yet He never seemed to do it in a way that severed the life-giving connection between Him and the Father, or interfered with His ability to give love when love was required. He regularly withdrew from activity to the place of solitude and prayer."
Hope you don't mind me sharing this, it just seemed to fit.

i think you sound like you have a good balance- in reading past posts about you! you seem to do really good at all the above and i think we can all see what your priorities are. some weeks things go in different priority order and maybe you are just feeling overly creative this week and not so into the other stuff- still attending to the other stuff but more focused on creating. I dont see anything wrong with that- as long as- like you say- that you are aware of your other stuff and will get to it later. Your focus in the last couple of weeks seems to have been your little family- maybe you need a mental break and your body NEEDS to let out its creative energy! :O)
Oh here i go again- blabbing on and on....