Since I was a little girl, I’ve loved looking at magazines and cutting out pictures and words that were moving me at the time. I started up this hobby again about 3 years ago. And, I do worry that it’s a little immature to be doing. So I gave it a name, an adult-sounding name: I call it maga-scrapping!
I’d like to share with you one of my latest “scraps.” It’s theme is what I would tell my younger self, early to mid 20’s, when I was depressed, drinking too much and completely out of control of my emotions with no self-awareness or self-care. It also hits home to my much younger years as well, when all of the above (except for drinking because I was like 14) was happening. I’m working on two more, which are extremely personal, and I have not decided yet if I will make those public. I mentioned my work on these two incognito scraps and she seemed quite pleased that I was doing “work” outside of our sessions. She also can’t wait to see them.
Now, getting on to the picture. At first glance it may appear a hot mess, but it really does have a [somewhat] organized structure. I wanted this scrap to have more images, with just a few words sprinkled in. I did “cheat” and include a passage that I found in Oprah magazine, but it was just too darn good not to include. Now let’s begin the tour.
We’ll start with the picture of the lady lounging on the left side of the page. She is the center of this whole scrap–theses images and phrases are hers to both create, and to discover. She appears to be on a mountain looking up at the sky. When we look up at the sky, often we are looking up at the stars. You’ll see that there is a star right next to her foot, which signifies that she is looking above to find the stars when there is a shining star already next to her. She’s searching for what she already has.
Top left you will see my one “cheat,” a full sentence clipping from O magazine. It says, “Experience Renewal. Discover the place where you can be at your best.” Pretty self-explanatory. I also have the phrase “keep your years” because my younger self is wasting away her years being sad, beat down, drunk. Keep your years! “It’s time,” I add.
Bottom left is possibly my favorite part of the scrap, aside from the chandelier (I’m obsessed with chandeliers). In words it says “life is” and then there are two images: one is a shake and one is a cupcake. Put it together and you have “Life is Shakes and Cupcakes.” Love it. What I’m saying here is that life is sweet. Yes, it’s sour and gross sometimes, but when you look at the bigger picture (i.e., this picture) it’s sweet as pie (or shakes and cupcakes).
Let’s move to the right. I do include some silly images, just to add character to this scrap. There is a straw hat and sunglasses, an old-fashioned record, and a giraffe peeking his head out of a pitcher of “peace.” You’ll notice that the pitcher filled with peace has a butterfly coming out of it. Butterflies have been transformed from their past, and it is when you have transformed into the true you that you will find peace. I have the words “Respect Yourself” next to a cat. I think cats respect themselves. They are always cleaning themselves, walking slowly, taking in their surroundings, saving their affection for the right person at the right time. Top right are the words “love the whole you.” Again, self-explanatory. In this instance, the whole “me” is this whole scrap.
Bottom right sums up what I tell myself now. Dear Pain, Thank You. I finally feel comfort. Without pain, you’ll never know true, unconditional, down to your bones comfort. I’m still slowly discovering bits of it, adding these parts to my “comfort basket,” but I can attest to this statement (mostly because I wrote it).
So, there it is folks. My childish hobby come to light. The thing is, childish or not, the excercise of going through magazines, meticulously cutting out images and words to form phrases and thoughts, is calming. I put on light music, and scrap away. It’s my getaway, my release. And it’s cheap, harmless, and not illegal. So what’s the harm?
Photo by pure julia on Unsplash
