Journal with a New Voice

As the family memory keepers, we are responsible for telling the stories of our lives. In accomplishing this important task, we often fall into a monotonous routine. We tell every story from our own point of view. While there is nothing technically wrong with that, adding some variety can really spice up our story telling. Here are a couple of simple ways to change the point of view of your journaling:

Letters: Consider using a letter or portion of a letter or email you’ve received as your journaling. Try quoting a love note from your significant other or a cheerful message from a friend. Use those words to tell your story. The image above is a letter my father sent me in ’94.  I incorporated part of it in this layout.  I didn’t use the whole letter in my journaling, just an excerpt about how his day had gone. It was perfect for photos of a very young me with him on the farm.

• Conversations: Conversations–either exactly word for word or something very close to what may have been said, make great stories or story starters. The journaling on this page is based on an actual or nearly actual conversation with my daughter. It reads:

He’s going to get me on my birthday. What? Mr. Ashcroft—he’s going to get me for my birthday. He draws a mustache on every kid on their birthday… with permanent marker. Emily certainly talked as if she was dreading the face doodling, but the grin on her face when she got home, was proof otherwise. Emily’s birthday stretched over the weekend. On Friday her friends came for a sleepover. On Sunday she opened her gifts. But the crowning event of the birthday? Her mustache and unibrow courtesy of Mr. Ashcroft.

But what if you can’t remember exactly what was said? 
Winston Churchill said, “History will be kind to me because I intend to write it.” I believe it is understood that what you write is your version of the events. If it bothers you that someone may think the journaling is exact, then begin with “It went something like…”

• Imaginary Conversations: Do you talk to your car? What about to your plants? 
Your fridge? “Where are you hiding the mustard? I know it’s in here somewhere!” Sound familiar? 
What if your things could talk to you? 
Your purse: “Would you quit stuffing things in me? I am getting SO overweight? Besides, if you put less in here, then you could FIND your keys.”
 If your alarm clock could talk, what would it say? How about your cell phone? 
Sometimes an interesting way to tell your story is through a message to or from an inanimate object. For example, I wanted to tell my story of Mother’s Day afternoon on this page.

I could write my journaling this way:  We spent some family time playing our favorite PlayStation 2 video game: BUZZ. It’s a series of little arcade-style games where the four of us compete as monkeys. In most games I lose, but there are a few where I excel. (I would go on here describing the games.)

But, written that way, it’s boring.
 So instead, I tried this: I’m sorry little monkey. You see, I’m not very good at video games, but we enjoy playing them together as a family so much, that THIS is what I wanted to do for Mother’s Day – to play a MARATHON game with our family. I’m sorry that the anvil keeps hitting you on the head. I’m really just trying to get enough points to win the round. I’m sorry that your brain keeps getting fried in the wrecked airplane. I’m not very fast at pushing the red button. I’m sorry that the lion keeps biting your head, and that the drumming monkey throws coconuts at you when I miss the beat. I’m sorry you fall out of the sky or into the water when I can’t aim, but you are the fastest at selecting the odd hippo. And no one is quicker on the draw than you. I’ll keep trying and maybe someday you’ll be at the top of the tree.

Obviously these ideas might not work for every situation, but the next time you are ready to add the story to your layout, stop and consider if you could creatively change the point of view of your journaling.

Editor’s Note: Have you done some creative point-of-view journaling on a page or two?  Link us up in the comments below.  We’d love to see your work!

About the author:  My name is Chelle.  I’ve been scrapbooking forever and I LOVE it.  Creating is my passion.  I hope to encourage others to express their creativity through digital memory keeping by providing inspiration, tutorials and quality digital-scrapbook products to scrappers and designers.  I live in a small, rural community in Northern Utah with my husband and four of our kids still living at home. Stop by my site and visit sometime!

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