There’s some quote about, if you can’t find what’s beautiful and meaningful in every day life (though maybe it’s not necessarily feet), you’re certainly not going to be able to capture it when stuff’s exciting. Or maybe I made it up, but either way, I think it’s true.
The project felt like a slog through the middle months of the year, when I settled more into routine in Bangkok vs. Saigon.
But I felt it was my fault when I couldn’t find something to record on the “normal” days. It’s easy to tune out of a walk and live in your thoughts. The project forced me to be a little more mindful, a little more aware, a little more creative.
Am I recording one second everyday in 2017?
This is what most people ask after I mention this project. (And I have rarely mentioned it. Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret for 365 days??)
Short answer, no.
I am SO glad I have this visual and sonic diary of 2016, which turned out to be an incredible year for me, personally.
But the app falls precisely between my desire to live in the moment and be OK with letting things go, and my competing desire to keep every moment and memory forever and ever and never forget anything.
Sure, it’s only one second, but to snag some good ones, it takes more than a second of thought.
The first half of the year was more spontaneous, but in the latter half, I started to feel a bit more more pressure.
I was making actual progress in this long undertaking I started on a whim, and the stakes started to feel higher. I’d often think about my day in the morning in terms of what opportunities I thought I’d have available to record.