Scrapping with purpose

I'm taking a Big Picture Scrapbooking class now called Inspiration Defined. One assignment was to do a page about why we scrap. Here's my take:


I used some index prints--my first time using those suckers. And I truly enjoyed using those orange flowers for the first time. Some misting on the background too.

I mean what the title says, though: scrapbooking helps me live with purpose. It helps me see the significance in my life, not just the big things (family trips, holidays, etc.) but in the things that happen everyday. Even the bad and scary stuff.

Yesterday was one of those moments. Like most days this week, I got to school sort of numb and tingling. (This is Minnesota.) It never went away, though, in my left arm and leg. I called my doctor during my prep hour, who told me to go to the emergency room. After many tests, I was diagnosed with paresthesia, which in a nutshell is a numbness and tingling not really caused by anything, but possibly caused by a nerve problem or stress.

Stress. After I had listed the stressers I've been through--my MIL's pancreatic cancer, my dog's death, stressful teaching conditions (over 30 in a class plus multiple differentiations in each class), department chair demands, husband away on business, stolen credit card number--that the doctor said, "I know what this is." The diagnosis is not complete; I have an appointment on Monday with my regular doctor, and I need to have an MRI too, but I do have a sense that too much srtess in my life is affecting me physically. Badly.

I sat down to think about what I need to do to reduce stress in my life. And since I scrap, here's what I did:


Again, pulling out the pretty papers, pairing it with a photo, and writing what I need to do right now to eliminate the stress that's within my control--that is scrapbooking. Plus, it's living a purposeful life.