Comments on: Project Life: Week 3 – Giving Perspective

By: Thestafford5

Thestafford5 — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Love Project Life for the same reasons you mentioned. Thank you for being so candid and authentic – nice to know we all have tough days; even though in comparison to so many we are unbelievably blessed! Like you said, Project Life helps me focus on all the little things that comprise this beautiful life. I am striving to provide an accurate picture of life – that it’s not always perfect – I love celebrating my children and looking at the happiest moments, but I also do not want them to look at our albums later in life trying to achieve a “picture perfect” life. I think it’s great for them to see the challenging moments too and how we work through those.

By: Noell

Noell — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Congrats on getting a new job so fast in this economy! TFS!

By: Noelle

Noelle — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:55:00 +0000

Annoying…that was supposed to say from Noelle….I don’t type and click well from the iPad. Blah.

By: Chalicat2

Chalicat2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

One year ago this week, I was laid off from a job I hated. I was angry, sad, scared…my baby was 6 months old, what were we going to do, etc. I’d been doing Project Life for 3 weeks. And that week, I had 1 picture. But I went with it and just journaled about this door closing, etc. It’s cool that we can be ok with no pictures Ina week and just go with it…because it IS life. (I found a much better job 4 months later, by the way.)

By: Noell

Noell — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:18:00 +0000

Hey, Kate, I do appreciate your help!

I take D and B12 but not other B’s. I did test my blood last year and they only thing they found me low in was D, but I bet I would benefit from Magnesium, and maybe more a mega B.

I’ve never heard of sugar causing anxiety and I don’t know anything about progesterone cream. That’s something to look into. And of course, water can always be improved!

I’ll look into it!

By: Noell

Noell — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:13:00 +0000

Margie, I get you! After living in the Philippines for as long as I did, it BUGS me when my kids say we have “nothing to eat,” meanwhile there’s a pantry full of crackers, bread, pb. and j. cereal, fruit and veggies. They get no sympathy from me when I knew families that felt blessed knowing they had a cup of rice they could cook up for the next day’s meal.

Izzy and always talk about how lucky we feel every single day. It was quite display, though, to actually see an entire week’s worth of an amazing life all right there in front of me, especially when my body reacts so physically to any bit of pressure I feel.

By: Glee

Glee — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:01:00 +0000

so true and a powerful message on all counts. imua! (hawaiian for keep on, go forth!)

By: Alissa

Alissa — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:49:00 +0000

Thank you. Yes I did that week of PL but I only used one page – not a full spread.Thinking about adding a 6×12 insert to add what I mentioned above. Love the flexibility of PL.

By: Linda Tieu

Linda Tieu — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:24:00 +0000

I agree that the system of Project Life is fantastic – the immediate gratification and capturing those every day things – truly! Not all so curated in my mind. I was touched by your realizations…

However, I think we can all build our own system of “scrapbooking”, not necessarily with the project life framework…if that makes sense? Because we all work so differently… systems aren’t 1 size fit all. Just my thought! I really do love the idea of PL, I just don’t want to feel as if you can only do it with those products specifically.

I personally dislike product specific things, because not all of us have the access, possibility or inclination to buy :)

By: kate Adderley

kate Adderley — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

Hi Noell, love your pages, lm lovin doing PL as well, but what l really want to comment and help you with is your anxiety, l have the same problems as you, mine has been due to hormone changes that started in my mid thirties, they call it peri-menopause,which apparently can last for 5-8 years before you start menopause, but the last 2 years have been the worst, l have anxiety everyday , and the only thing that has calmed it down is to stay away from sugar, l take a product called stevia, it is a natural sugar from the leaf of the birch tree, also take a mega B table and also B12, which has taken away the numbness in the lips and mouth and hands and feet, and also magnesium, and drink plenty of water to flush your kidneys, l hope this is a help to you and makes you feel better, l could go on with all the things that have helped me, my depression is caused by low progestrone, which all women start to lose in the mid 30′s, you can get a natural progestrone cream from health food stores, l am under a menopause centre and get this in what they call a troche, low progestrone can cause depression, so can low in B GROUPS, and low in mag., there is so much more l could tell you, but l dont know what you’ve tryed or what you take, if anything, l hope this helps you, feel free to contact me is you want, ………kate

By: Ciqi

Ciqi — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:22:00 +0000

Oh, you´re wise Noell! Thank you!

By: Jenn V.

Jenn V. — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:42:00 +0000

So sorry about your rough week! Yes we are all quite privileged but we have ups and downs too! Your honesty is awesome. I have done PL for a year and so far haven’t really recorded the bad stuff. I’m thinking this year I will be better about that!

I also love how you used PL to notice the awesomeness that is life. This last year doing this project has really made me so very thankful of everything I have and do.

To a better week!

Jenn

By: MichelleC

MichelleC — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:25:00 +0000

Thanks for sharing your true life. It is refreshing to see real and not sugar coated. Our everyday lives have ups and downs and I think we should document what is real to us so that we don’t forget that as the years go by. I think this kind of documenting can help us see even a rough patch wasn’t all bad and learn and grow from where we have been.

By: Melinda Kirk

Melinda Kirk — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:17:00 +0000

Sorry to hear about your struggles this week Noell and congratulations on your perspective, that is just huge and how fabulous that PL put that on a page for you. We had a tough week here too, Australian summer in full force, two small children and no air con. It was over 40 degrees celcius (over a 100 your scale) and when I complained to my husband he shrugged and said ‘meh, first world problem’. Profound! So many of our problems are first world problems and if we can weave a bit of gratitude into trackling that can only be a good thing. I am SO, SO glad PL is singing for you. This is my third year and I have loved how this process reveals the truth of our everyday and captures the heart of who we are.

By: Margie S (Nihao, Cupcake!)

Margie S (Nihao, Cupcake!) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:05:00 +0000

Living in a developing country, every time I go home to the States, I have a hard time relating when people complain about their charmed lives (especially those that are working, own homes and are still vacationing during hard economic times). Though, I am as guilty of it as anyone and I totally agree that all pain is real and relative. Sometimes seeing other people worse off than me doesn’t necessarily make my pain go away or make me feel better but it is does make me feel grateful for my opportunities and choices. I find that scrapbooking and Project Life do help me feel appreciative and grateful over and over. Sometimes I think when I am looking through my photos, how can I ever feel disappointment or frustration or sadness – my life is awesome!

I do appreciate you highlighting that you included the reality of your difficult week in your album as it is inspiring me to include those struggles in mine. I tend not to because I feel like I am complaining and I don’t want to whine, but they are real struggles and it is the reality of life and as long as I include how I have come out the other side, others (namely my children) can benefit from it. I know I would love to hear about personal struggles of those who have come before me and how they have managed to come out the other side or get past it and thrive.

Very good post. Thanks!

By: Lori P

Lori P — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:03:00 +0000

LOVE your post. Appreciating your candor and you “keeping it real.” I think these are common struggles at this age/stage of our lives and it is nice to know I’m in good company : ) and that telling the stories about this time of life is really important. And congrats on 99 shows! Here’s to 99 more, and 99 more and 99 more… : )

By: Donna C

Donna C — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:53:00 +0000

Noel – you are so right about how fortunate we are here! It’s something I’ve been thinking about the past few weeks, especially for women – the choices and opportunities that we have that weren’t there for our grandmothers and greatgrandmothers. I really should try PL as a way of reminding me to be grateful.

By: Kim L.

Kim L. — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:31:00 +0000

You are so right about how fortunate we are, especially in the US. After a mission trip to Kenya this summer, I am so much more aware of how blessed I am. Even in the difficult times, I am still blessed. Thanks for being real; something I’m trying to do more of in my scrapbooks as well.

By: Christy

Christy — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:57:00 +0000

Thank you for the inspiration. I took the plunge and started working on my January pages. I may not have the budget to buy the PL kit, but I have plenty of stash and the divided page protectors.

I am sorry you had such a rough week.I guess though, that it sometimes takes the hard times to appreciate the good ones.

By: Noell

Noell — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:37:00 +0000

Thank you! Yeah, it turned out to be a spread I love. What a nice surprise. And amen to your statement about gratitude!