uniquelyyourscraftjournal

Memory Journal Prompts

08 Mar 2017 2 Comments

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Memory Journal Tags: family, memories

Dear Fellow Journalers,

In preparing a memory journal at first glance it seems like an impossible task but my advice is to take it in pieces. You could start with your childhood and answer the following questions (prompts):

What was your favorite toy?
Did you ever get lost? Who found you?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
What was your favorite subject in school?
Did you have a favorite teacher?
Do you remember any instances that made you extremely happy or scared?
What was you favorite tv show?
What books did you read over and over again?

If you want to delve into your parents’ lives, begin by finding old photos and documents such as birth certificates, old report cards, letters, pictures. Often letters can be the door to your understanding of how and why your parents acted and thought. Some possible questions to ponder: did you have family traditions? What did you do on Sundays? Write down 3 of your father’s favorite movies, songs, sports, time of year, meals. Was there anything noteworthy of your mother’s upbringing – for instance, she grew up in the Depression, or worked in a factory during WWII.

You could create lists of: places you have traveled to, the people you admire, your favorite movies, your favorite books (and why) your goals.

There are many, many prompts available for you to choose from so as I’ve stated before, take the journey of remembrance slowly, savoring each moment and tell it to your family and friends so they can share your legacy.

‘Til then,

~Sallie

P.S. Books I have read about discovering family through letters include “Against Wind and Tide” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

“The Diary” by Eileen Goudge

“One Lavender Ribbon” by Heather Burch

Word Ghosts know the value of a moment

03 Mar 2017 Comments Off on Word Ghosts know the value of a moment

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Word Ghosts Tags: memory

” Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”

unknown

Memory Journal

01 Mar 2017 Comments Off on Memory Journal

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Memory Journal, Paper Daydreams Tags: memories

Dear Fellow Journalers,

Memories, “they say”, can never be taken from you, but the intricacies of the memory itself can fade. Do you really remember all the important details people’s names, the little things that happened or even the big experiences, the way you felt? The only way to remember is to write things down.

A Life worth living is worth recording.

Now you may think that crafting a memory journal will be tedious and you see a giant headache in your future. But think of it this way, you’ll re-live and reevaluate events, relationships and turning points in your life. With perspectives that can only be gained by living forward, reflecting backwards you’ll re-examine your life and view the challenges and the discovery of who you are now. You are an important part of your friends and family lives and the portrait of you gives these important people a greater understanding and appreciation of the what’s and why’s and how’s of you.

If you’re of a particular age, you might also be one of the last people alive with memories of your grandparents and perhaps even your parents. How many times have you heard someone say “I wish I knew more about my Dad” or ” I came from an estranged family. I wish I knew more about my Grandparents – did I look like them? Where did they come from?”

You also are an eyewitness to historical events. Your memories, experiences and perspective about events that happened all around you add to the collective knowledge of our past. I always like viewing TV shows about historical events in which the narrator or the scene portrays little known events. You know the ones I mean – the events not recorded in history books. The story about a man who missed the train because he drove his child to school because his son missed the bus and the man was NOT at the World Trade Center when it was attacked or the people in the crowd who were cheering the marathon runners in Boston MA – there are hundreds of stories like that memories locked up in people’s minds and hearts. On a personal note, I remember watching the moon space landing and the day Kennedy was shot. ( I know I am dating myself!) I remember my wedding day, the day our son was born, holding my newborn granddaughter for the first time, the first time I rode a horse, went on a train trip, saw Peter Pan with Mary Martin in NYC, swam in the ocean – big and small things that make up my life.

These and more reasons propelled me to write a memory journal if not for me than for the generations of family members who come after.

‘Til then,

~Sallie

Word Ghosts define creativity

24 Feb 2017 Comments Off on Word Ghosts define creativity

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Creativity Journal Tags: love life

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty. You want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.”

Osho

The Sky’s the limit

22 Feb 2017 Comments Off on The Sky’s the limit

by uniquelyyourscraftjournal in Creativity Journal Tags: boring, content journaling, new ideas

Dear Fellow Journalers,

Have you ever felt that your journal is boring? I don’t mean to suggest that you are boring, I mean the content seems dry and repetitive. I got to thinking about this as I re-read some older pages in the creative journal I am writing in this month. As usual, when I bought a new “toy” I spent an inordinate amount of time researching how others used it. Then I experimented. I had started writing about the experience and found that my entries all read the same: “_____ is fantastic! Works with so many other things. Can’t wait to make a card using _____”

A lot of you have commented either publically on this blog or privately that you feel my posts have been interesting, valuable and motivational. Believe me, I try every day to keep your trust in me, but lately I wondered if my personal creative journal was going flat was my writing as well? Yikes! Having ideas in one of the most important parts of my craft. How do I keep the ideas flowing and do I really believe that there’s a whole world out there just waiting to be explored?

I did not want to wait for the magic flash of light. I needed to have a plan. Now the plan I follow is to gather information, write down notes, shape ideas, share them with others and write. Sounds simple doesn’t it but I was just repeating these steps. I needed to create a new box of ideas. So I went to the bookstore and found a couple of magazines I’d never read before. I found some articles that were interesting. I took a break from writing . I asked myself: “if I had all the time in the world, what would I create?”

That age-old question opened the floodgates for me and so began content journaling for 2016 and 2017.

‘Til next time,

~Sallie