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Layout Challenge:Gratitude Layout

by Linda Barber | 12 years ago

Hi there! Linda Barber here to talk a bit about motherhood.

Me and my nine fellow Dream Team members have put together a class about living our dreams. Whether you are living it right now, or working hard to attain it, we have prompts, ideas, sketches to get you scrapping about them.

My bit is about motherhood. It’s one of those hot subjects amongst women. You either want to be a mom or you don’t. There’s no grey area. Whether or not you actually become a mother is another story. But if you do become one, it will inevitably bring your thoughts back to your own mom. It did for me.

As a teen, I found many faults with my mom. I spent way too much energy thinking of all the things I’d do differently (and better!) if I ever became a mother! I’m totally embarrassed by all of that! She was and still is an amazing parent. I was just too bratty to notice. I’m (hopefully) more mature now, and I see all that she did and continues to do for me. My kids think she hung the moon. My husband adores her. And now, I do too.

Which brings us to scrapbooking. I like to do pages about my mom. They are not all rosy, I must confess. I’ve written about our difficult years, because that’s our story. And someday my kids will read them and will learn more about me and their grandma. But I find that more and more, the layouts are about her kindness, love, and devotion to her family. All things that I aspire to. All the things that are part of my dream.

This layout is just a list of the things my mom did and still does for me. Of course it’s nowhere near comprehensive, but it was fun to reminisce while writing it. I just started jotting down what I remembered. This is sort of a thankfulness exercise. A gratitude layout.

I never dreamt of becoming a mother. But I do dream of being a good mom. I hope my kids think so. This layout is a bit of reminder of what I can do to keep on living that dream.

So here’s my challenge to you:

Think about someone/something in your life that fulfills a dream of yours, or has helped you (or will help you) achieve that dream. Mom, dad, sibling, friend, child. Job, hobby, place, pet. Pull out a photo of her/him/it, and just start writing down all that your subject brings to your life. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, structure. Just go for it. Think big and small things. Then put it all together in a layout. You will feel so good after you’ve done it. And just like that, you’ve create a record of someone/something that’s important in your life for your own dream project!

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