Cool article

I know, I haven't been around at all this week. I don't really know why, but it has flown by. I have just kept busy with preschool, helping out in Megan's classroom, errands and life in general. So it seems like there hasn't been anything worth blogging about.

I did find an article that I have been looking for, for a long time. It was one that I read online back in 2002. I printed it off and tucked it somewhere safe. You know that safe place where you can never remember where it is?

So it doesn't get lost again, I figured I would put the best part of it on my blog. My scrapbooking friends might enjoy reading it as well. It is just an uplifting article about this crazy thing that seems to consume our lives. Scrapbooking.

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By Holly Christian Craft writer/designer and expert

I don't know about you, but for me it doesn't take much for scrapbooking to lift my spirits. After five minutes of looking through old pictures of my daughters I've got a goofy grin spread across my face that lasts for hours. The therapeutic value of scrapbooking is immediately evident but a closer look reveals long-lasting and life-enhancing benefits. Scrapbooking can help foster creativity, allow us time for contemplative work, provide a social outlet, and most of all, help us tell the stories of our relationships with loved ones.


The Healing Power of Story

Gathering photographs, organizing and assembling them in a scrapbook, and doing a bit of journaling about them is a fun way to spend an afternoon. But the benefits may be even greater than imagined. Studies show that when cancer patients are able to tell their deepest stories, their psychological and physiological well being often improves greatly. Scrapbooking, part of the family of story-telling modalities which includes journaling, art therapy and creative movement, has been shown to actually help strengthen the immune system.


Creativity

The process of scrapbooking -- choosing paper, thinking about placement of objects on the page, playing with color, line and form -- expands our minds in other ways as well. The creative act, whether it's making a fabulous meal, painting a picture or telling a story in a scrapbook, often bubbles over into other areas of life, allowing us to experience and respond to life in new ways.


Solitude

Solitude, though not highly valued in our culture, helps us get back in touch with ourselves. Contemplative time spent alone, journaling and scrapbooking, helps us access and strengthen our essential nature so that we can see more clearly when we venture back out into the larger world.


Social Time

For many scrappers, getting together with others for scrapbooking is a wonderful way to lift spirits. Regular get-togethers are especially welcome during those long winters that never seem to end, particularly for moms with little ones at home.


So doesn't all of that sound pretty true? I'm glad to have read that. Not that I need validation, but sometimes when you tell a non-scrapper what you do, they look at you like you are crazy. They just don't get it. So I feel validated. And like others have said before me....the cost of scrapping supplies might be expensive, but much cheaper than therapy!