Establishing Your Own "Enough" In Memory Keeping
One of the discussions that has come up during recent workshops is the concept of "enough."
It's a word that has gained traction over the last few years in conversations and blog posts about how we feel about ourselves with the mantra "I am enough" resonating with so many of us for deep and valid reasons. For some people this is an easy concept to embrace and for some people it's really, really challenging - often because of the expectations we live with for ourselves or the stories we are telling ourselves about who we are supposed to be in this moment in time. Add in a hearty dose of Facebook + YouTube + Instagram + Pinterest "perfection" and finding your own enough can be a challenge.
"Enough" is a concept that can also easily be applied to memory keeping. It's a very personal, "one-size-does-not-fit-all" idea that can actually lead you towards a more meaningful relationship with this lifestyle/hobby. My enough might look totally different than your enough and that is a good thing.
Your own personal memory keeping "enough" is a fluid continuum. Seasons of life come into play here as they so often do in so many things. My "enough" right now might be "too much" or "not enough" next month or next year. It's okay to change your mind and adjust your level of enough. The key is to have it in mind in the first place and give yourself permission to let go of some of the extreme expectations you might be placing on yourself in this current season.
Knowing your own "enough" can open the doors to more joy in the process and more focused storytelling.
Here are some questions to ask yourself about your own memory keeping "enough" right now:
There are so many choices in memory keeping these days - which is awesome because it gives you choices (which can sometimes also not be awesome if you get overwhelmed with too many choices).
Maybe traditional sized layouts are just enough for you. Maybe monthly Project Life® documentation is enough for you. Maybe weekly Project Life® storytelling is enough for you (even if you aren't completing it weekly). Maybe just participating in Week In The Life™ and/or December Daily® is enough for you for the entire year. Maybe just typing up your stories and saving them in a folder or writing in a journal is enough for you right now. Maybe just participating in One Little Word® and focusing on your personal stories is enough for you. Maybe you want to do a little bit of everything and that makes you feel most satisfied. Or maybe you are simply in a dormant season where stories are being written in other ways (via the way you are living your life and the choices you are making for yourself) and a season will come again when it's time to document. There is simply no specific prescription for what you "should" be doing to get your stories told.
Own what is enough for you right now and know that you can change your mind.
Maybe you get one kit every month and use that to focus on a few specific stories and that is enough for you. Maybe you print all your own supplies from digital products and you're totally happy with that. Maybe you purchase new stuff regularly and simply love having access to lots of cool stuff. Maybe you are working through your hoarded stash of many years and enjoying it every step of the way. Maybe you don't buy products at all and just use words + photos.
Again, there isn't a right or a wrong, there's simply your own level of enough stuff.
Yeah, I know, I sell products. But I also absolutely believe that selling you a product that is just going to sit on a shelf or in a drawer is counter productive to my personal memory keeping values. I actually care that you use the stuff that you purchase from me because I know the absolute positive things that can come from telling your stories.
Remember that having more products at your disposal doesn't equate to getting more stories told or necessarily increase your creativity. In fact, I argue in many of my classes that having access to less products actually promotes more storytelling because the focus is less on the products you have to choose from and more on getting the stories told.
Own what is enough for you right now and know that you can change your mind.
Maybe you are choosing the super simple route of words + photos. Maybe you want to layer and layer and play and mix a whole bunch of things together and add a little paint on top. Maybe you are focusing on your photography skills and everything else is taking a backseat. Maybe you are practicing your writing skills and that's your current focus. Maybe you are super regimented in your documentation or maybe you fly by the seat of your pants and sometimes choose a super artsy path and other times keep it as simple as possible to just get the story told.
Figuring out what parts of memory keeping are most meaningful to you is an excellent place to begin on your journey to establishing your own enough. Maybe it's the photos, maybe it's the stories, maybe it's the combination of the two, maybe it's a finished project, maybe it's the opportunity to get messy & creative, etc.
Own what is enough for you right now and know that you can change your mind.
Maybe it's enough for you to focus on telling the everyday stories at this time in your life. Maybe it's enough for you to just focus on telling your own story right now vs. anyone else in your household. Maybe it's enough for you to focus on limited duration stories (think Week In The Life™ or December Daily® or Day In The Life™) vs. an open-ended album that collects stories here and there. Maybe it's enough for you to focus on your kids or your pets or your parents or your partner's stories.
To establish what stories are enough, think about the things you wish you knew about the people in your life who are important to you. What do you wish you knew about your Grandma? Consider telling those kinds of stories about yourself.
Own what is enough for you right now and know that you can change your mind.
Maybe it's enough for you to take a couple photos a month. Maybe everyday is more your style. Maybe your iPhone has become your absolute go-to or maybe you miss your DSLR camera. Maybe you take 100 photos of the same situation or maybe just two. Maybe you, like me, want to enlarge every photo you use in a layout or maybe you want to crop them all to 2 inch x 2 inch. Maybe the photos are your focus right now and you are in a season of practicing.
For me, memory keeping is a lifestyle - a way that I live in and experience the world. Maintaining and sustaining a lifestyle means being open to the ebb and flow of what is enough at any given time. It's something that you are going to have to figure out for yourself - trust me, it's worth it.
What's your own enough right now?
This is something really difficult for me. I have always been an over achiever, and not in a good way. In a way that means no matter how hard I work, I know deep down that if I tried harder I could have done more. And I could have, for sure. We all can do more. I'm trying to focus on deciding if I WANT to do more. What is enough? This applies to me much more for work and family than in crafting, but it is an important lesson for me so I can better enjoy all of my life.
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This was such an amazing post to read and it made me realize that I need to figure out what is enough for me. Sometimes I try to do to many things at once and sometimes I try to participate in projects that I have no business participating in just because every one else is. I so enjoyed reading this post and plan on taking a look at what really makes me happy.
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I think this stems from the fundamental "comparison" women in particular are doing all the time against other women, other moms, other scrapbookers. No one decides what is enough but you. and I don't even consider my decisions as a decision of "enough for me". I try to do the best I can with the time and resources I have. I try to make sure that I am grounded in what my priorities are for a happy and full life. A happy and full family. It doesn't matter if it appears that someone else does more or less then me, because they are not me. I am me. I only get to be me. I get to make my own own rules, my own decisions because I only have to answer to me. Thanks again for reminding us to get real with ourselves. :)
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Such great thoughts here. I think I really need to sit down and put some real thought into these questions. I'm a real go- with-the-flow memory keeper, but lately I've been feeling overwhelmed by the choices. Clearly I need to determine what is enough - even if that means continuing to dabble!
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This is really good. I think it took me a long time to accept the ebb & flow of memory keeping (& life in general), but once I got to that point, it became much easier and more enjoyable. I'm actually surprised at how much I adjust what is "enough" for me. A good reminder today, thank you.
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Thank you, thank you! Like others who have responded, I often struggle with enough (I am seeing a OLW for next year). But after taking your Story Telling with PL, I have cleared out products I have not used or would not use based on my changing techniques/tastes. I donated everything to my local elementary school and they were thrilled. I am now going through my stash on a regular basis to keep things tidy and organized. Taking the Hybrid class has also changed my enough, it is one of the best classes I have ever taken. Thanks again for all you do, my memory keeping it better than ever, enough for me!
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Thank you for this post ! I love it... The week in the life and the December daily are enough for me to tell the story og my family. I can't tell all the year.
I'm agree with you that more products aren't help me to be creative !
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As always, Ali, you speak wise words. In a world that tells us we are supposed to have more, get more, need more. It is nice to think that this is enough. I am enough. We are enough. I have enough. We have enough. A good check in for us all in our creative lives but also in all the other aspects of our lives. Thank you for the thought provoking words.
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The timing of your posts lately are just perfect for me. I have had many of these thoughts as I head into in the holiday season and try to start (and hopefully finish) a December Daily album and just trying to catch up in general. Thank you for sharing this reminder.
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It's funny, I still struggle with this, but I'm learning. Last spring and summer was pretty nuts for me. So, my pictures aren't exactly in the right order, but I keep telling myself, in a year, no one will care that picture was actually taken the week before. Enough. My enough changes with life events and that is just going to have to be ok. Thanks for all you do, Ali. I hope you know the impact you have on so many of us.
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Brava! Thank you for another thoughtful post. I was just at a weekend scrapbooking retreat with the girls where people were making fancy "creative memories" type pages. I was working on our Hawaii vacation album and was struggling with a photo of the USS Arizona memorial that I had taken from a battleship nearby. The memories are so strong from that experience that I was having a hard time composing a page. Until I said to myself (literally) enough! mounted the photo on black cardstock so it had a v thin border, put that in the center of a piece of white cardstock, wrote "USS Arizona" and the date. Done. Enough. Perfect. I put it in the layout competition as an example of simplicity, but I don't think anyone got the point ;-).
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