Scrapping the Unconventional

Editor's Note: Contributed by NSA member Cheri, she describes coming to grips with changes we all go through in life...getting older.

Got Ink?

I created my first “scrapbook” when I was about 10. It was filled with stupid notes from my friends, movie stubs, popped balloons from a party and the paper blow-out portion of a party favor. There wasn’t a single picture in it! But I think back to that silly scrapbook, long since gone from moving, and it takes me back to age 10 and that wonderful slumber party. I have lost touch with all the other girls that were there, but I still smile and giggle when I think back to that silly Saturday night.

And isn’t that the point of scrapbooking, anyway? The memories?
I love to scrap just about anything. I've scrapped everything from my children's hospital bracelets to a piece of linoleum from my grandpa's basement. I think it helps keep those great memories vivid in your mind and provides wonderful stories with visuals. It's a great way to reflect on a moment in time and provides reminders of why you wanted to preserve it to begin with.

Which is exactly why I wanted to document the event of my very first (and likely only) tattoo. I really never imagined myself having a tattoo. Ever. When I told my husband I was contemplating a tattoo many months ago he laughed. He just figured I would never go through with it. I’m a big wimp when it comes to needles so he figured it was just a lot of talk. I didn’t have anything specific in mind. I was just tossing the idea around. And secretly, I thought maybe I was too “old”.

But at 41 I was having my own version of a mid-life crisis. I found myself making plans to fly off to “tropical Michigan” to meet internet friends in person. By myself. Then I hinted at the tattoo again with my husband. After almost 4 years of stressful personal struggles, I had a vision of what I wanted inked on my body. I still wasn’t entirely sure that I could go through with it so I made my friends promise me they would not let me back out. After I got through a small panic attack on the way there, we entered the tattoo shop and I knew this was it. It was a one-time event and I did not want to leave without pictures documenting each step of the process. It hurt as much as I imagined it would.

Click to enlarge photo

My mini mid-life crisis is over. For now. I have this single event scrapped and already in my album. I’ve looked at the layout everyday since I finished it and it makes me smile every time. It was something a little out of character for me. Something unconventional. An event I’m still trying to figure out how to tell my mother about.

Maybe I’ll just hand her my scrapbook.

Comments

[Laurensmom]

wow! what a wonderful story