When many people think of documenting a week of their life, they immediately put up road blocks. “My life’s not interesting,” “I don’t do anything,” “I’m boring,” are all phrases I’ve heard people say when approaching the idea of documenting daily life.
First of all, none of those statements are true. You don’t really think your life is boring, do you? Aren’t you utterly absorbed in what you do every day? That’s not boring, that’s routine. While you may think your routine is boring, it really isn’t, especially when you realize that it changes over time. By documenting it now, you are making yourself your very own time capsule, that you can dig up at any time.
Second of all, stop putting yourself down. When you are saying your life isn’t worth documenting, you are devaluing yourself. You are worth knowing. Your life is worth sharing. Please take the time to do a project like this. You’ll be surprised at how much you do, and when you look back, you’ll be surprised at how much you’ve forgotten.
One of the realities of life is that horrible experiences are so much easier to remember. The good days, the routine days, those are easily forgotten. If you document your daily life, you’ll be able to hold on to the wonderful bits that make life so worthwhile just a little longer.
The other big road block people create when they think of this project is to say that they can’t take that many photos, or record everything they do. True, this may be harder than usual, but it is easier than you think.
First, try to keep a camera handy regularly. Use the camera in your phone if you don’t have your actual camera in hand. Put your camera next to the bed, so it’s the first thing you see in the morning, and you’ll remember to use it right as you start your day. Try to enlist your family to help. I’ll be trying to talk my husband and kids into taking pictures while they are at work and school, but they may not play along. If you run out of ideas of things to take pictures of, I’ve got a list you can print out with lots of ideas for you.
Downloadable Photos to Take Printable
Second, keep a few little notebooks handy so you can record random thoughts during the day, and the things the people around you say. The photo print out will also work as story prompts, and I’ve got two printables with some tried and true journaling techniques for you as well.
First up: download stop drop and write. This is a couple sheets formatted to be printed on a Simple Stories journaling insert. Set a timer to go off at half hour intervals throughout the day, and write down what you are doing or thinking, or what is going on around you. Keep it short and sweet. Twitter, not Michener. Next, I have some he said, she said prompts you can print right on your 4×6 journaling cards. These are intended to be used when someone says or does something that you find very memorable.
Remember, this is a project you CAN do, and you will treasure it when it’s done. Next week, I’ll be sharing up some of the pictures and stories I capture, and the following week, I’ll work on assembling the album with you. This is a fun and extremely do-able project. Are you going to join me?
