When we say "scrapbooking," many people imagine colorful stickers and school albums. But for me, it became something more — a way to collect my past in one book to return to it with my fingers, eyes, and heart.

My first memory book began by accident. In a box with documents, I found an old ticket to a concert where my friends and I shouted songs in the rain. Next to it were photos from the same night — blurry, crooked, but so real. I realized that I wanted to not just keep them on my phone, but to give them a new lease of life.

I bought a thick notebook, glue, scissors, and beautiful paper. It turned out that the process itself — cutting out, laying out, selecting details — was a separate pleasure. Each page is like a small collage of my emotions. Here is an envelope with a letter, here is a dried petal, here is a piece of ribbon from a gift.

Scrapbooking teaches you to slow down. We live in a world where you can flip through everything in a second. And here you look at every detail. Remember why you saved this ticket or photo. Sometimes I catch myself thinking that I look through these albums more often than photos in the cloud.

You don’t need anything complicated to start with. An old notebook and a desire to touch your past with your hands are enough. Even one sheet of paper filled with your little things is already a whole story.

I like to think that in many years I will open my first book and smile. And I will write another one.