Monday, August 27, 2012

End of Summer Day 5: Black Belt Attitude

Last December we delayed my son's going for his black belt. He needed more time.

This June, he worked hard. (We did too!) He practiced every day, ran several times a week in preparation for his physical test (a 5K), and went to the pretest, which was really the test. Every time he went to the test, he failed. But he never got discouraged. One of the words that is a part of a black belt attitude is perseverance. He had that. I would ask him what he needed to work on, and he would work on it. And eventually, he passed, the youngest in this group to do so.


 


This page is about that journey. It's one of the few times I didn't really care about design (I was down to the end of June's Studio Calico kit, so I had to dip into my stash for embellishments); I cared about story, so I took a close up of the journaling. I wrote it in pencil to make sure I had enough room, then wrote over it in pen and erased with my white eraser.

I took the photos with my phone, so I printed them small. I had planned another photo too, but I went with just three because of lack of space. The final quote I took from the wall at the dojang. It's amazing how elements for your page can come from the world around you if you just observe them.

Rowan's black belt is probationary, so he has several degrees to go until a full black belt. I am proud of him, and I know he is proud of what he accomplished.

Have you scrapped something recently that has made you proud, even the little things?

3 comments:

alisonm said...

love the story!

Michelle said...

This is a great story and a wonderful page, Jen!

Beth Hallgren said...

Aspring to journal as much as you do :) Love your ability to layer and make it look great!