Pacific coast, true turquoise, or snow shadow blue? She had collected so many strips of paint chips, but couldn’t tell how each shade would actually look on their walls. My friend told me that’s when she decided to buy some sample cans and compare swatches of each color in the changing light over a couple of days.

I remembered doing that when sprucing up our Tennessee cabin in the Smoky Mountain woods. Right away, though, the most time-consuming portion of our redecorating came to mind. Removing wallpaper…layers and layers of it.

It was slow going, but fascinating at the same time. Made us wonder who all the folks were who had come before us, each with their own ways of thinking about home decorating. There were florals, then paint, geometrics, then more paint, then florals again with vertical lines providing some space amidst the busyness.

As lots of memories started flowing in about moments spent in the cabin during our nine years there, I recognized this month’s Jottings Tip:

DON’T WORRY ABOUT REPEATING YOURSELF

You may have already jotted down some recollections of a period of your life, and feel hesitant to go into something else from that same time frame. Not to worry.

If I had only captured the tidbit above, I would be leaving out a lot more of our Life in the Cabin story. And those are the moments that actually hold some sort of meaning that energizes me when I recall them.

For example, the part of the story where my daughter Sara and her husband Ben visited for a weekend before we had even started the process. They ended up stripping wallpaper and painting our master bedroom before they left. It would have taken us sooo much longer to get around to doing that. Their youthful exuberance jumpstarted us into a more expansive project than we thought we were capable of, and we loved the end result months later!

Or the part years afterward where our nearest neighbor called to invite us to their place for a bear watching. Big Momma Bear and her three cubs were in their woods, so we needed to drive up close to their back door and scurry in unseen. What we heard and witnessed through the floor to ceiling windows-on-the-woods was breathtaking. Hanging out of their bathroom window to snap photos of the adventurous bear family was not the smartest thing my husband Chris has ever done, but we’re glad to have photos to remind us of the sights and sounds of that day and the friends with whom we experienced it all.

Or the part where relatives from both sides of our family came for visits over the years, and left us with fond memories of seasonal walks in the woods, snacking on local ice cream and fudge, slipping and sliding on icy treks up our mountain road, and rip roaring board game challenges.

I may have mentioned some of these moments in more than one of my jottings, but from a different angle or perspective. It doesn’t matter, really.

Each story’s sharing just reveals a different shade

of meaning or layer of emotion felt upon its retelling.

In much the same way that a shade of paint seems a bit different as light reflects off each wall in a room. So, jot away and let the chips (paint or otherwise) fall where they may!

Let’s give it a try this month and let me know how that feels…

Wanna chat? 💕

JOYfully jotting,

Katie

Family PhotoStory Curator

Mini-Stories Writing Coach

Your Legacy of Memories Mentor

Capturing Mini-Moments that Matter…

Energizing & Connecting Families for Generations!