I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post and video of my December album cover. Today I would like to show you the first few foundation pages!
The concept of December Daily is the brain child of Ali Edwards and the idea is to create a December album in which you will do pictures plus words every day the entire month of December. One of the ways this is achieved is by creating the album and its foundation pages in advance of December, so that during the month all you have to add is photos and journaling.
I must admit that in light of current events happening in Missouri, I sometimes doubt myself and how I can do something that seems so frivolous and unnecessary as a December album. How is that I can post to the world and show off my privilege, my undeserved ability to love on my children and go about my daily routine, when there are so many who are mourning and in pain. And this is precisely why I do it. Ali Edwards posted a wonderful entry yesterday about why she does this. While I am not necessarily adding this into my album, I did want to document these thoughts here today while they are relevant.
Why do I do this? Why am I pouring this much energy and this much time into this little project?
You see, our families, our blended families, have lost too. We have all survived the kind of earth-shattering, stop you in your tracks losses. The kind of losses that, when and if you recover, you are never really the same. You can heal, somewhat, but part of your very self is gone. We have cried the unconsolable tears. We have stayed up the sleepless nights with our children who were in mourning.
Today we celebrate our recoveries. Our recoveries are still ongoing - it will continue our whole lives. But oh, the joy in the midst of our sorrows. I have worked on December Dailies for six years, and completed five of them. Through some of those years we were really struggling. But I look through those albums and they are so cherished. I see the joy in the midst of trauma and pain.
And so I document the moments that catch our breaths. I photograph the events and the hugs and the laughter. I soak it all in and revel in it all, because it cost us. It cost us a price for which there is no sum. And because I know there are no guarantees, tomorrow might not look like today. So document. So go and photograph. So write. So go and share your joy, your December joy.