365 Days of Laura
Two days ago I finished this project, took my last photo and posted Day Three Hundred and Sixty Five. I am done. Finished. Finito.
It feels a little momentous and I think I may have let out a sigh when that last photo went up. A sigh of contentment, a sigh of relief, a sigh of achievement. I'm not sure I believed that I could get the whole thing done, and may have caught myself a little by surprise.
For me personally, this project was fueled by a few things.
Firstly, there was a desire to reflect on and express gratitude for all the incredible things in my life. It sounds a little silly, but one of the reasons I had delayed beginning this exercise was the stupid thought that maybe I would run out of things to be grateful for. That Day Two Hundred and Rah Rah Rah would show up, bringing with it nothing to find delight in, to be amused by, to be thankful for.
That did not happen once. Sure, there were days where I had to think a little harder, but often it was those days that I really felt the extent of gratitude in my life. If you open your eyes to the beautiful, the cherished, the delightful and the special things of life, you begin to see so many beautiful, delightful, special moments that really are worth cherishing.
The other significant reason for taking on this challenge was an intentional step to build some 'creative' moments back into my life.
I usually find I feel most alive, most myself, and closest to God when I am doing something creative. Conversely, when life is busy, when my body and soul is stressed, and when the To Do list piles up, all the creative activities seem to drop to the very bottom of the list. I wanted a project that engaged that creative part of me - something doable, yet something that required commitment.
And now I am finished, the 'creative' desire has me brainstorming all kinds of next possible project. The fire has been relit.
One of the best things, I've realised, is that I have a visual record of the greatest year of my life. I captured so many big moments, such as:
Turning 22 / The first dreary day of the long distance relationship (and, thankfully, the much happier end!) / My last day of university and the day that I graduated / My first Thanksgiving / Three weddings (Anna, Christine and Princess Catherine) / My first Christmas with William / My last day at Nexus / Getting a new job / and Finding a reception venue, getting engaged to the man of my dreams, buying 'the dress' and celebrating our Engagement (in that order, too!)
I've captured so many special people (rough count of 80, with many repeats) - faces I hope will be in my life long after this project is finished, but faces I am grateful to have snapshots of all the same. And I've also captured so many small moments, fleeting moments, blink-and-you-miss-them moments that I will treasure for a long long time.
The past two days I have found myself automatically thinking 'Oh, that will be my grateful photo for today!' I hope that's my reaction to life, for the rest of my days. When I open the folder on my computer that now holds 365 distinct 'gratitude moments', it is undeniable - I have SO MUCH to be grateful for.
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And to be honest, I have that 'I can do anything!' feeling that comes when you achieve something big. A photo a day sounds easy enough, right? I did the math, and if I spent 2 minutes a day taking a photo, and 2 minutes uploading it, that 4 minutes a day for 365 days, equals just over 24 hours.
I spent one entire day of this past year being grateful. It sounds so small, and yet it feels so big. Twenty four full hours of capturing my gratitude and getting it down on metaphorical paper.
I did something, every day, for an entire year. I committed. I started. And I finished. I wavered along the way, yes, but now I am done. It feels bigger than finishing school, or getting my degrees. I feel like I can do anything!
