Have you really embraced simplicity?

While developing some new class materials, I’ve been thinking a lot about the students I taught recently in a free class. I was awesome to see just a few simple prompts nudge scrapbookers into dramatic changes. But it was (I’ll be honest here) also frustrating to see so many still stuck.

It was frustrating, not because there is one right way to organize (there’s not), but because the process doesn’t have to feel so complex and just plain hard. I hate seeing people banging their head against the well – because it hurts, ya know?

The purpose of organization in memory keeping is to help you get more done. It’s that simple. While the end result might also be pretty, make you feel empowered or make life easier, you organize so that scrapbooking can happen.

Many of the ideas shared on Simple Scrapper are rooted in the premise of keeping things as simple and basic as needed.

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
– Albert Einstein

Simple scrapbooking is not necessarily about being a minimalist in your supplies or having a clean page design. It’s about finding the processes that make memory keeping an enjoyable and productive practice. It’s about finding what is the right amount of {anything} for celebrating your stories. In organization, it’s about not making things any more complex (or simple) than they need to be.

I wanted to share this post with you today, because I see that some of you are quite stuck in old habits and ways of thinking. You’re letting the clutter and the complexity confuse and paralyze you. You’re missing out on the freedom that comes from letting go and embracing what simplicity can offer.

I’m writing this post as an invitation to step out of your comfort zone and discover a new motivation and mindfulness in scrapbook organization. It is something that comes from letting in simplicity with a whole heart and open mind.

We’ve talked a lot about organization over the past month, so I’ll leave you with this pearl of wisdom for now:

“The trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they’re organized for.”
– Laura Ingalls Wilder