This is Why I Scrapbook

I've been inspired to talk about why I scrapbook by this post by the wonderful Shimelle Laine. I suppose it is something that those around me wonder about but this explanation isn't for them it is for me.

I grew up surrounded by stories; some from my mum and more from my nan. I learnt from an early age about places and people long gone before I was even born. These stories first inspired in me a love of history, a desire to know more. They also inspired me to tell my own stories, both fact and fiction, to make my own mark on history. As I grew older I came to cherish the few photographs I had to illustrate these family stories and I longed for more, I wanted to see the people and places that had so long lived only in words as they were then. This is what brought me to scrapbooking. My intention was to record the stories and preserve the photos we did have. I have done this and so much more besides.

I soon realised that as well as preserving the more distant past I could also preserve my recent past and my present. I could create a record of my life, of the people, places and little things that are important to me, of the kind I could only dream of finding about one of those faceless names who peopled the stories I treasure.
So that's what I do. I fill my scrapbooks with the memories both big and small that make me who I am. I take photos and give them meaning; I provide the who and when and where and the emotional whys. And in the process I create something pretty that reflects who I am at this moment.
And I learn more about who and why I am because I ask questions of myself and preserve the answers within the pages of my scrapbook.
I don't worry about what will happen to my albums once I am gone they are there for me and for those closest too me. Inside I do hope that they will survive long enough to be rediscovered by someone with the same trait of curiosity that has driven me to create them. If they aren't well so be it they will have given me joy and I'm why I do it.