On the 18th June 2007 I started a project to take a self-portrait every day for the entire leap year. 366 days later, i've reached my goal. Enough of the fake goodbyes and suicide notes; this really is the end. It's party time.
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I've been sitting at this laptop for ages trying to figure out what i want to accomplish with this last piece of text. It seems fitting that I should write about the personal difficulties and triumphs i've had throughout this undertaking, but thats not really what I want to say.
When I started this project a year ago, I didn't really question why I decided to do it. I had read about the idea on lots of photography websites, and I thought it would be a cool thing to do on moblog.
It seemed like everyone had a lot more questions about the venture than I did, but I had very few answers because I had made the decision on a whim. I found that most of my own questions came during the year itself, and I'm happy to say that they have almost all been answered within 366 days. The first and most enduring things I asked myself were:
What will it be like to force myself to take a picture - every single day - of the subject i least like to see in front of the camera? After i have done so for a year, will I still love taking pictures? Will I know myself a little more?
I won't give the answers. I hope they are obvious through my pictures, and the way the project developed over the last year.
This undertaking has forced me to confront myself every single day. It has made me earn the moments, and squeeze out a little extra effort to accomplish a bit more every day. Even on days when I felt like I hadn't contributed anything, I at least contributed my
dailyme. It has stopped me from coasting; I haven't found myself saying
"where did that week go?" as time goes hurtling by. The whole thing has been right there in front of me (and everyone else) in pictures, on moblog.
Now that i'm at the end I can say this:
dailyme has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and it's been that much better having the community here to witness it. I'm absolutely shattered, but I have loved the process so much that even though I will no longer post to this moblog, as long as I am able I will continue to take a
dailyme every single day, for the rest of my life. Thats how profoundly this thing has affected me.
And so in writing this I now realise what it is I really want to say:
I want others to experience this. I want them to be affected like I have. To see their year, up close, every day. It's wonderful, believe me, and something that you will never, ever regret. It's harder than it looks, but easier than you think, and the feeling when you reach the end? Nothing short of
amazing.
