Tomorrow's Eyes

by sarahmfry, September 21, 2008
I found Photoshop Elements 6.0 on Craigslist really cheap and I am excited about embarking on some digital scrapbooking. I love to scrapbook, but at this point in my life, it's not very practical. The kitchen table would be my work area, and I cannot even fathom getting all of that out, spending an hour on a layout and then PUTTING IT ALL AWAY for the next meal! No way. Not gonna happen.

I've thought of doing some weekend scrapnights over at the school, but weekends are pretty precious around here and that solution would not really be consistent enough to keep me moving and up to date.

Solution? Digital Scrapbooking. My picture albums are already digital - and I can just work on a layout for 15 minutes then save it and move on with my day. Did I mention I'm excited? My friend Nelda did some layouts for me of our Labor Day picnic and gave me a super cool 8x8 album.

So I've been having some neat thoughts about the whole "scrapbooking" phenomenon. I have often said that scrapbooking (and now - photography and even blogging, too) changes the way I experience the moments. I am forever capturing moments as they happen - realizing the value and the beauty of even the simple or mundane. And it hit me the other day what is happening there.

I am learning to look at today with tomorrow's eyes.

You know how a miserably cold, rainy camping trip becomes a precious memory.....and those dirty-faced diaper days become immeasurably valuable to a mother after they're gone. Even the different homes and living places of our lives, I think, tend to show their beauty in retrospect. After time has passed, we are able to see the balance of the beauty and the challenge and the beauty is often what shines through.

When I think of our home in Mississippi. I remember the lonely, pregnancy-hormone-laced days of David's first year in grad school. I remember the declining area that we lived in. And yes, I remember the mammoth-sized roaches with which we did battle. But what rises to the top of the photo pile is a gentle, quiet picture of a cozy little house that gave us some very good days.

No matter the challenges of today, tomorrows eyes will see these days for what they are - dear and precious and wonderful.

I believe that scrapbooking helps me to see today with tomorrow's eyes. Even if the pages aren't laid out, the memories are mentally (and literally) filed away. And somehow every beautiful sunset and smiling dirty face becomes worthy of being cropped and enhanced and journaled.

And life has become richer.
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