Everyday Life

Ok, it's possible that I'm just a huge sucker for this sort of thing, but I keep thinking about doing the "Week in the Life" project along with Ali Edwards (and many others). Well, not quite along with, because they are doing it next week. Next week I will have my mom visiting and our time and pictures will be wonderfully focused on that visit. But, I'm tempted to try to do this another week.

I am wondering is why this type of project appeals to me so much. I was unable to resist the lure of the December Daily album this past year and while I like my finished product, I was really frustrated to be finishing it in February after I was ready to move on to other stuff. But isn't that always going to be the case with creative projects? Finishing is harder than starting, right? So even though I like my little album, I'm not sure I'm glad I tackled doing it. Why then, do I find myself almost irresistibly (well, still resisting so far) drawn to what would certainly be an equally challenging project to finish?

I think it is because the everyday-ness of life seems to slip away so quickly. I am not someone who really mourns the loss of the baby-days of my kids. I really like it when they can do more and say more. But I am disappointed that I've forgotten so much. I don't mean just the sleep-deprivation-fogged newborn days, either. I can't really get a clear memory of the the baby and toddler days. Now Zack is about to start school and pretty soon his preschool days will be gone too. And I just don't remember! Both milestones (I have some of them written down, somewhere) and the everyday routine of what life was really like at certain stages - even when people ask, I can't really put the details together into a cohesive story.

I don't remember this type of detail from my own childhood either. My husband has very strong memories from the time he was two. I have vague memories punctuated by strong feelings. Wouldn't it be neat to have stories from my childhood, my mother's childhood, my grandmother's childhood written down and placed side-by-side with the little ephemera of daily life?

Elizabeth commented on a previous post about the idea of heavily documenting one day a year (as opposed to one week, as is the case in the Week In the Life project). My sister suggested I start there, and I think it's probably a good idea. Even if it would be hard to choose a representative day, it would still give me a snapshot of life, which is what I think I'm interested in.