rukristin Loves Community
We're in this together.
Here's the deal. I love this community. A blogger is only as good as her readers. All the cool things that happen around here are only possible because of the awesome people I've met. People who are into this nerdy way I'm documenting my life. Because of this, I am incredibly grateful for this community that we have and the ways that we continue to inspire each other.
I believe a couple of things
I am a person -- a woman --with value to this world
My story is both incredibly similar and vastly different from others
I am the best person to tell my story
It is of value for me to tell my story and share it with you, just as it is important for you to tell your story and share it with me.
This is why I write. This is why I come and sit behind a laptop and share my story with you -- in the hopes that you too, will share your story with me. I believe in a place where we can all come together and share our stories -- both with each other and with the world.
There are a million ways for you to tell your story. I try to tell my story in several different ways. Some of these are constant, but most of them come and go with the times -- I like trying new things, seeing what works for me, and then tweaking it to make it fit my life. I encourage you to do the same. It's because rukristin is about this community.
Here are the ways that I'm choosing to document my life right now, and this is my pitch to get you to play along.
4 Ways to Play Along
1. Currently List Journaling Challenge
Last year around this time, I was playing around with the idea of a weekly introspective. I wanted to make it as simple and as completable as possible. The approach I went with was to use the same seven prompts each week. To make it even easier, I created a simple card with the prompts already listed. Each week I could just grab a card and spend five minutes answering the questions. I thought that it might be a great way for others to tell their right-now story as well -- so I shared my #currentlylist card on instagram and the Currently Journaling Challenge was born.
Since then, the currently list journaling challenge community has exploded. We've already created an awesome community and I have met so many cool women from all around the world. But I think my favorite part of the whole challenge is the conversations that come about on social media. I've found ladies who share my love for Haim and I've met friends who can't wait to dish on the newest episode of Scandal. It's a place where we can come together and find common ground.
Play along. Start by downloading the free original Currently Journaling Card and then branch out with physical cards or stamps. There is no right way to do this -- start here and tweak it to make it work for you.
Thursday3
As I was working on documenting my everyday stories one of the biggest problems I was running into was that I didn't have enough photographs of myself. Taking a cue from the Currently Journaling Challenge I wanted to come up with a way that was simple and completable.
I decided that once a week (on Thursdays) I would take a picture of myself and share three facts about me. I tagged a couple of friends and #Thursday3 was born. The response was awesome. I’ve since made it a weekly task for myself and whoever else wants to play along. We share a lot on instagram.
Think about it this way: If you take one picture and write down three facts each week — at the end of the year you’ll have more than 50 photos of yourself and 150 facts about what life has been like. It will make such an epic All About Me book — and most of the work is already done.
Everyday Documenting
Document today, document the everyday, document right now. It is a part of your story. While your day-to-day life might seem uninteresting as you're living it each day, but I promise you that if you start documenting the every day you will start to appreciate the little changes that happen. Documenting the right now allows you to document the things that slowly change over time. As well as some stories that we don't know even know are happening.
Tell your everyday stories because you believe in the entirety of your story.
I choose to document my everyday stories with pocket page protectors. I started out using the Becky Higgins' Project Life format and have changed it up multiple times over the past few years. Sometimes it's 12x12, sometimes it's 6x8, sometimes it's weekly, sometimes it's less structured. Each December I put together a December Daily album. I enjoy focusing in on the important things at the end of the year and creating a daily album forces me to take the holiday a little slower, taking joy in those little moments that make it special.
Mini-Albums
Mini-albums are my favorite projects. I love telling an entire story from start to finish. Documenting the every day is important because it allows you to extrapolate different moments from your life and form them into a whole story to put into a mini-book. The more of a priority you place on documenting the every day -- the easier it will be to put together awesome mini-albums.
I love mini-albums so much. You can make them out of anything. One of my favorite mini-album technique creates a 20 page mini-album out of just paper and glue. I'm so obsessed with that style of creating mini-albums, that I got a bunch of incredibly talented women together to help me show off just how easy it is. The Fold It In workshop is over 80 pages of instruction & inspiration.
My favorite thing about this workshop is how different each of the albums are. We all started out with the same idea and step-by-step instructions. We each made different decisions about supplies, colors, photos, sizes and more. I am so proud of these ladies. Thank you to everyone.
For this year and for the opportunity to live and share this great life with you. I'm looking forward to what the new year brings, I have a few things planned. Some will be new and some will remain the same. I really hope that you'll join me on this journey of storytelling. We are the best ones to tell our stories -- so let's do it together. rukristin loves community.
Understand that you are a unique individual.
Believe that your contribution to this world has value.
Know that every part of your story is worth telling.
2016 Update: I've now introduced the Awesome Ladies Project into the world. A campaign inspiring women to tell their right-now stories. Join us today for mastermind inspiration, discussion, and an awesome scrapbook girl gang community.
