DEEP DEEP DEEP Get Real Challenge #3 - February 2007

This is my post on Cyberscraps about my third Get Real Challenge. I've really enjoyed these so far and hope the people who have participated have enjoyed the "honesty" of it and the therapy of course. I'm telling you what, it's cheaper than a shrink!!! lol There is a full explanation right at the bottom of my blog which explains what the Get Real challenges are all about and why you should saddle up and give them a go! This month's challenge:

Okay, getting in early again because it's another DEEP one and some of you may want to take some time to think about how you are going to do this one! This month my Get Real Challenge is to write a letter to your 18-year-old self. What would you now, at your age, go back and tell yourself when you were only 18? Advice, warnings, encouragement, direction? Think about where you were at 18 and how the world looked to you at that time. Maybe you did things in that year that changed your life forever, for better or for worse. Maybe you were afraid of what the future might hold and now you would want to tell your 18-year-old self to feel the fear and do it anyway? Maybe you want to tell your 18-year-old self to listen to heart instead of head, or maybe the other way around?

It was the year that most of us started drinking legally and found a new freedom in terms of our social lives - I know I did.
It was the year that we were told to vote for the first time and I know I had no idea what I was really voting for at that age.
It was the year I had my first long term job, the year I was planning my wedding to my now ex-husband.
It was the year I tried to learn to drive and gave up because it was "too hard".
It was a year I spent mostly away from home, at a boyfriend's house, at a friend's house, shopping, working, partying.
It was the last full year of my mother's life but neither she nor I knew it.
It was the last Christmas I would spend as a child under my parents' roof.

They say hindsight is a wonderful thing and I know it's true. And I know you all have that as well, the abilty to look back and see the mistakes as well as the great decisions. I don't want or need to see anybody's letters and how you incorporate that letter into your layout is entirely up to you. If you have a photograph of yourself at 18 that would be just amazing if you could use it, otherwise you can use a recent pic of you, or no pic at all if you would prefer.

I know for some it will open a proverbial can of worms and for others it will bring back sweet nostalgia of a wonderful time in your life. Take your time, have a think back, recall those memories of a time when you thought you knew everything, could do anything and had the plan of your life mapped out (well I did anyway! lol). Maybe you will chat about it to any old friends you still keep in touch with, maybe speak with a parent if you can, maybe speak to your partner if they knew you at 18. Go back, look forward and from whatever age you are now look back again. Sit down with a pen and let the wisdom of hindsight flow ladies!

The due date for this challenge to be uploaded into the gallery under Get Real Challenge February 2007 album is 28 February 2007.

I posted this here so that anybody who thinks they might be interested in this kind of scrapping could have a look and participiate if you want to. I'm totally still doing my "cute", "perfect" and "life's wonderful" layouts but I now spend just as much time focusing on the real daily grind, my history of the good, bad and ugly that makes me who I am, and what my life is really like. I want my kids to look through my albums when I'm gone and be able to say they truly knew who I really was, as a mother, as a woman, as a soul. I want my albums to be a testament to who I am and I figured this was the best way to go about it!

OH very heavy, sorry it may be Friday and I don't want to harsh anybody's mellow but it's one thing, one aspect of my scrapping that I've become very passionate about. Join in if you like or just come and have a look at what others have done if you prefer. Either way I'd like to hope the challenges make you think. Have you thought about yourself at 18 yet, while you've been sitting here reading this? An excellent start! lol