Stickers are Joy
Where I Find My Motivation
Stickers technically have been around since ancient times. According to Label Tech, Ancient Egypt was the first to use papyrus and adhesive paste together to stick things to the wall. Later in 1839, Rowland Hill created the first postage stamps which had to be licked to stick. I like to think of these as “lick and stick”. Eventually, in 1935, R. Stanton Avery created the self-adhesive sticker, which is like the stickers we enjoy today.
I fell in love with stickers in elementary school when I received my first Lisa Frank binder and matching stickers. Lisa Frank began her company in 1979 and her stickers may still be purchased today. They are vibrant neon colors with chaotic backgrounds and cute animals and desserts as the focus. I never grew out of my love of bright colors and happy or exciting themes.
Sadly, after my kids were grown, I thought I no longer had an excuse to purchase stickers. What would a fortyish-year-old that no longer teaches or is raising small children do with fun colorful stickers?
Then this last Christmas, it was just my husband and me on Christmas day for the first time. My children were spending Christmas Day with their significant others’ families and spending New Year’s with us. My husband and I still exchanged stockings and he ended up putting stickers in mine.
Of all the things in my stocking, these stickers were the best. He researched and found a batch of 1,000 stickers with motivational phrases decorated with flowers and pretty colors. He also made sure to note that not one sticker in the pack was a duplicate.
Since these were a gift that I was excited about and could tell my husband was extremely proud of thinking of, I was determined to find a use for them. I began popping them into journal and sketch pages.
I enjoy writing and drawing and anytime I began a new piece, I added a motivational sticker onto the page and it made me smile. If I was having a rough day, I added an extra sticker for that little extra happy. Soon, I realized I was writing and drawing twice as much just so I could pick out another sticker.
I also took some of the stickers to my local art league where I meet up with various people once a week and we paint or draw. Everyone was extremely excited about the stickers when I mentioned I’d be happy to share. Soon the stickers were all spread out and everyone was picking the perfect sticker for them.
It made me realize that age does not matter and who cares what others think. All of us may find quite a bit of happy in a little pack of stickers. I can’t wait to use them all up so I may get another set and keep going.
I hope this story brings you a pack of happiness as well and feel free to go get some exciting stickers for yourself.
