Wednesday, August 1, 2012

CTMH and Stacy Julian

I attended the Close to My Heart Annual Convention in Dallas this past July.  Our Keynote Speaker was Stacy Julian.  Wow she was so inspirational in her message.  She said so many things that made me stop and think.  One thing she mentioned was that we all have 10,000 plus pictures on our computer but we rarely look at them.  We don't share them anymore (unless it is on a social site) and we need to take the time to put those memories in our albums before people forget.  She told us a story of a photo album that she found in a thrift store, when she asked the clerk how much, the clerk replied "what's it worth to you?" She bought that album for $3.00.  When she looked through it the pictures were from the 1950's.  I was speechless - - I had always assumed that my pictures would just pass down to my girls but then she said something that made me think.  Why would they care - - if they don't know the story behind the pictures or the people in them - WHY would they want them.  She and that story has motivated me to challenge myself this month.... It is time to start getting the pictures off my computer and onto my album pages.  My goal for each day in August is to complete a new layout for my scrapbooks that include not only the pictures but the stories to go with them.  I will post my layouts and hope you will join me as I try to get my 10,000 digital pictures in albums for my family to enjoy.
 She shared this video with us; and let me tell you, there was not a ....
..dry eye in the ballroom. It really made you "stand still" and take everything in. I know I struggle with this sometimes due to our crazy schedule. She provides this message, too:

"My message is that time moves so very fast and most of the time we do too. But, we can choose (with practice) to slow down and to savor simple everyday moments. We can pull out our cameras and take pictures and we can live with these pictures and let them work magical things inside of us. Doing so will make us more grateful, more content, more aware and more happy. There is so much that is overwhelming and challenging in life. Efforts to capture and share your memories should be neither.

Enjoy your day.
Take pictures of things that make you happy!" ~ Stacy Julian

I hope you enjoy the video. It has inpired me to start recording my happy moments.