This project was scheduled to end on April 12, 2010. So where are all of the pictures? What’s the last shot? What are my final reflective thoughts? Did I flake out with mere days left to the finish line? Do I really have that weak of a constitution?
Well, my friendly friends… I was robbed.
Robbed of the glory of finishing this project, yes. But not robbed quite like Taylor Swift was robbed out of a “moment” by P. Diddy. I was robbed of material goods. Perhaps a lesser offense but crappy all the same. That brand new macbook I posted about? Gone. Old but trusty digital camera? Gone. I could go on… but as far as this blog is concerned those are the two items that really mattered for completion of the project. Along with the material items went the pictures. The last shot was of me and the trusty camera (Will’s camera to be exact) taking a picture at the same time as my macbook photobooth was taking a picture. It was cool. And so meta. You’ll just have to trust me.
I had to give myself some time to cool off after the robbery because… no one wants to hear someone reflect about the world’s evils and how good elementary school teachers could have prevented this (I sometimes find myself staring at rude people and wondering what their first grade teacher must have been like. Am I alone in this?). In the end, you can’t “let the terrorists win”. I’m finishing this project… pictures or no pictures. I’ll just have to be my own Beyonce. (Did I take the Taylor Swift analogy too far? Yes?)
So, I’ll focus instead on what I learned. I still took every picture and even though I don’t have the web evidence to prove it, I know in my heart what the pictures were and how taking time out everyday to do the project changed my perspective on things in little and big ways.
So, I’m going to reflect. Terrorists and P. Diddy’s of the world be damned:
-I find myself looking at flowers a lot more often. This is good.
-I find myself thinking about what one moment from the day could encapsulate my feelings, mood, goals, dreams, or struggles of the day. This gives me perspective I might not have stopped to consider before.
-I stopped caring about vanity as much and took more pictures of myself eventually. I have more freckles now that I live in California. I smile more in California than I did in NJ (yes, you can go back and see the transformation). Maybe I just got more comfortable around the camera. Maybe I am really, really vain at heart. =)
-I still find the camera intrusive. I AM actually a shy person. You won’t see many pictures of people in the project unless they’re practically my bff.
- Will is really kind. I love looking back and seeing the little things that made me smile on a day to day basis and finding that Will was at the root of so many. From writing “I <3 u" with forks and spoons to letting me borrow his camera for 365 days he's one heck of a nice guy. I will keep him.
-Editing. All the cool kids do it, it turns out. Would you write an important paper without editing it? No? Then why would you expect to make a beautiful and worthwhile photo without a little careful editing? Took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out.
- The sun shines more in California
-But… I like seasons. Japan might have ruined me in this regard, but I'm always looking for signs that things are changing. Signs that one day I'll wake up and the world will be a different color.
It's finished. How will things change from here? I'm currently looking for my next 365 project idea. Outfit of the day posts to make my wardrobe more daring? Paragraph of the day posts to make my writing more daring? Polyvore set of the day to make my polyvore skills more bomb? Suggestions are not only encouraged… but rudely demanded. Ideas?
