A Year in Review

Do you recall ribbon barrettes, watching the Smurfs and the invention of the Rubiks Cube? I still remember them vividly. They are a part of pop culture that will probably be remembered for years to come, by myself and many other children of the 80's. However, I would be hard pressed to tell you when they were popular.... that is, until I discovered VH1 and "I Love the 80's". I hate to admit that I can easily spend an entire day watching hour after hour of 1980's nostalgia because it was so much a part of my childhood. As I watch, I say to myself, "Hey, I remember that!"

Now, you may be wondering what all of this has to do with scrapbooking. Well, let me tell you.

Scrapbooking existed only as a rudimentary art in the 80's consisting of construction paper pages with marker drawings, limited journaling and a few photos attached to a page with some scotch tape. Most people didn’t even go that far. They would take photos and put them in a cling album, which these days would make even the most novice of scrapbookers cringe, with the horrific thought of the acid eating away at their precious photographs and memories. Then there was my mom, the shoe box scrapper. All of her photos were thrown directly into a shoe box, never to be seen again. She finally turned over the pictures that could be found a few years ago, and sadly the first 18 years of my life fit neatly into one 8-1/2x11 album. My eldest son’s first year album is larger!

Now, you might still think there is no point to my rambling, but I promise there is. The point is that scrapbooking has turned into an art form that has consumed my life and the lives of many of my friends. We are constantly trying to create amazing layouts that will forever preserve a moment in time for our children and their grandchildren to treasure. However, sometimes we get so caught up in moments we neglect the other layouts that will be treasured, as well. I wish my mom had created a layout for me, telling me about 1981. The Rubik’s cube was all the rage and I would not even think of going to school without having a ribbon barrette that perfectly coordinated with my outfit in my hair. And, I waited all week long for Saturday morning cartoons just to see the Smurfs. But, that wasn’t all that happened in 1981. Ronald Reagan was sworn into office as the 40th President, Sandra Day O’Connor was nominated as the first female Supreme Court Justice and the Oakland Raiders won the Super Bowl. In fact, so much happened that it would easily fill a 2" binder with page after page of memories. But, do I really want to create an entire layout about who the President was in 1981? Some people might, but to be honest, I wouldn’t. However, I think it’s an important part of 1981 and it would be good to know.

So, I think it’s high time we stop scrapping just the moments and start scrapping real life. I challenge you to end each year with a layout chronicling that year. Just like anything else in scrapbooking, it is completely your prerogative how you go about it. Maybe you really aren’t interested in world events. That’s fine. Scrap about your family. What happened? What were the memories of the year that will forever be in your heart? Put them all in one layout. It would be a perfect complement to a year of moments. You can do a page with photographs, or perhaps just a page of journaling. Talk about what you learned. What was the best and what was the worst? How has the year changed you? How do you plan to use that knowledge for the future? Just sit down and think about what you want others to know, or perhaps what you want to remember when you look back. For example, I often think about 1987. If I were to do a layout about 1987 today, I would ask myself why on earth did I think that green mascara was a good idea? However, if I had created that layout in 1987, I would have talked about all of the cool stuff I did, and how I LOVED wearing green mascara because that’s what everyone wore. It is funny how your perspective changes. Write about it now, so you can read about it later. I promise you will be so glad you did.

Another option is to create a layout about world events. Maybe you want to remember:

* the top news stories of the year.
* who won the Super Bowl, World Series & Stanley Cup
* who won the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the Emmy’s
* pop culture, including the most popular trends in clothing, video games and television

Of course, you might just want to remember a little bit about all of these things. It is really up to you what you focus on, and how much. Here are some websites to get you started:
www.infoplease.com
www.timecapsule.com
www.nostalgiacentral.com

Looking at websites is a great way to find information on the past. But, as you look to the future, I would recommend buying a calendar and marking down events that you might want to remember for your Year in Review. At the end of the year, you will have all of that information at your fingertips, ready to be made into the perfect layout.
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So, as we approach a new year, let’s take one last look at the past. Decide what is important to you and create a layout about it. Then you can close that chapter as you look to start a new one.

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