Do You Guys Know About Project Life?

Because of the proliferation of smart phones in our lives, most of us have a pretty decent camera on us at all times. In fact, your smart phone camera is probably more than merely "decent". I have a digital SLR camera (circa 2006) that we used to consider our "good" camera. It was the shazizzle back in the day. My iPhone now has more megapixels than that camera. I'm stating the obvious here: technology moves fast.

Because we have these cameras in our pockets, most of us are taking more pictures than ever before. Our phones and computers are brimming with our images. And there are so many ways to share them! You can Instagram them! Post them on Facebook! Email them to people! Tweet them out! Put them on Flickr! Tumblr! (Okay, enough exclamation points!)

But do you ever actually do anything with them? Do you feel simply overwhelmed by the prospect? Before smart phones, most of us used to only pull out our cameras for life's "big events". Our parents have albums filled with pictures of holidays, graduations, weddings, new babies, and vacations. These are great and worth remembering, but life is made up of more than our highlight reels. What about the everyday stuff?

Have you ever come across an old photo, and after exclaiming how young your dad looks or commenting on your mom's hairstyle, you think, "Oh! I remember that couch!" or "Man, seeing that table in our old kitchen really takes me back...." Don't you wish you had pictures of everyday things in your parents or grandparents' lives? Wouldn't it be cool to see the dashboard of your dad's first car, for instance, or the inside of your grandmother's closet? Wouldn't you love to see a little piece of your mother's morning routine when she was your age? It's these everyday things and moments that make up our lives.

Here's what I've learned: Setting an intention to document everyday things can be a profound experience.

There are several ways out there to help you do this, but the Big Kahuna in this style of memory keeping is Project Life.

Project Life has it all. There are digital options, there are physical scrapbook options, there are baby editions and school editions and travel editions...heck, there's even a Project Life app that makes it easy to do on the fly. If you google "Project Life" you'll find all kinds of inspiration out there.

I first discovered Project Life in its infancy. I was inspired by the idea of documenting the everyday, so I set out to make a digital photo book of my 40th year. Starting on the day I turned 39, I took a picture every day and wrote a little something about each picture. I chose to do the digital version because it was easier to keep up with; I could do it on my laptop at the end of the day while sitting on the couch. I'm not going to lie, there were times I got behind and would have to play catch-up. But the effort was worth it. I love this book so much and I'm so glad I did it.

A snapshot of my digital scrapbook; it was an ordinary week in my life during my 40th year. I spent so much time behind the wheel of that car and we don't own it anymore; glad I have that picture!

I turned 40 toward the end of 2011 and decided to take a break from it for a while. I found that I really missed it. Going through my day thinking about what my "Picture of the Day" would be made me more mindful. The whole process made me feel grateful for all the little things that make up my life.

I decided to do the project again in 2013, starting on Jan. 1st. This time I did a physical scrapbook, which turned out to be more work than the digital version. But again, I am so glad I did it. My father died in the spring of that year, and I'm so glad I was paying attention to (and documenting) all the little moments during that time. I know we tend to think of making a scrapbook to document happy memories, but it really helped me process everything that was happening at that time. I'm so grateful to have those thoughts and feelings preserved; I look at them and reflect on it often.

another random week in my life during 2013

There are a lot of different ways to approach this project. You could do just one layout each month instead of each week. You could have your kids or your partner participate. You could do a "Day in the Life" or "Week in the Life" album (Ali Edwards started those; I highly recommend checking out her memory keeping projects!). And by the way, this isn't a sponsored post! I am simply sharing this because it has been a meaningful process for me, and I suspect many of you would find it meaningful in your lives, too.

Here are some ideas of "everyday pictures" to include:

what you have for breakfast every morning
the dashboard of your car
your view when you sit at your desk
the inside of your closet
the price of gas the next time you fill up
your kids' favorite toys
a shopping cart filled with your weekly grocery run
whatever book you're currently reading
your family's coats and shoes in the closet or entryway
your favorite chair in your home
the street sign where you live
your go-to weeknight meal
inside your pantry
your morning or evening routine
a screenshot of a funny text conversation
inside your child's locker at school
products you use everyday

You get the idea. I know some people think, "My everyday life is too boring!" Maybe you think this list just sounds boring. But I promise you, a few years from now you'll look back at these pictures and they will have meaning. You'll be glad you did it.

*Other apps/etc to help you explore this idea: