Permission. . .Sign #1

My One Little Word for 2012, Permission, has already starting popping up. It's crazy how that happens.

In a recent blog post from Lain Ehmann, she linked the following blog post from Stephanie Howell.  In it Stephanie talks about "blocks" to scrapbooking.  The perfection some of us look for before we give ourselves "permission" to scrapbook, whether that's perfect paper, or the perfect time, or the perfect design, or in this case, the perfect picture.  Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.  Is the photo important to you?  Is there a story behind it?  It shouldn't matter if it fits into the parameters of a "good photo" in terms of crispness, exposure, composition, etc.  What matters is that if it's important, you scrap it no matter what it looks like.  Give yourself permission to use it.  Seriously, who in your family, now or in the future, is going to care if the shot was composed right, or had the proper settings. . .they're not.  They're going to see the story.  The memory.  The people. 

As scrapbookers, we . . . me  . . . are fantastic at throwing up road blocks for actually not participating in our craft.  It's something I've never encountered in any other craft.  Knitters, in my experience, don't not knit because they don't have the perfect yarn, or are busy comparing their skills with others.  They knit because they love it.

Now, I'm pretty good at scrapping pretty much any photo I take, but that doesn't stop me from comparing my shots with others.  I still hesitate when posting my layouts, not just because of the design, but because of the photos . . . especially when I don't think they're "good."  I'm giving myself permission to stop.  Permission to say, "You, know, I'd love to be out of manual mode, but the fact is I'm an auto-girl.  I may never understand an f-stop or depth of field."  I knew this when I asked for cameras with good pre-programed modes.  Why fight it.  That doesn't mean I can't continue to try to understand my camera.  Or that I can't continue to improve on what I see through the lens.  But I do need to stop beating myself up over it.

Thanks to those of you who shared your word and your perspective on One Little Word. I would agree, Jen, taking pictures that don't interest you does make the project more difficult to follow through on.  Your word for this year has more choices for photography and or journaling, as it sounds like it's more exercise related.  Maybe if you're walking or running, you could take your camera along and take pictures of what you see while you're "Moving."  Briel, I love that you're using your word for passwords - that's a great idea.  JLP - love your word. . .I think just smiling, changes your whole demeanor and outlook.  Love your layout about it!

Happy Tuesday.