Project 365 - This Was 2013

So this past year I have been participating in something called a, “Project 365”.  It is a photo journal where you take one picture a day and document your travels throughout the year. 

“Evil Chicken, how did you stumble onto this, Project 365 thing?”  Gentle Reader, the whole sordid affair can be found right here: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2012/12/project-365.html.  This is how it all started.  However, this particular blog entry is not about how it happened; it’s about what happened between Point A and Point B, 365 days later.

I have felt the pull of the undertow of the tides of time.  It recedes at an alarming pace.  “Tempus Fugit”, my friends; time flees.  I don’t say this to depress you (or myself for that matter), I say this as a gentle reminder to be aware of this fact; use your senses, to become more observant of where you are and what you are doing.  To capture as many moments as you can with those you love for the old saying is more than true, “we are on loan to each other”.  Enjoy each moment.  Celebrate it because it is not coming around again.  It is precious.  I consider myself to have a rudimentary appreciation for time.  I know that it is fleeting and, therefore, I try to spend it wisely.  This project reminds me of that fact – the precious nature of time.

As Project 365 progressed and I had habituated myself to the process I began to notice something unexpected.  I found that as I reviewed each and every one of the pictures that I was taken back to the exact moment that it was taken.  In a very real sense, Project 365 has been my pensieve (which places me one step closer to wizarding greatness).  Yes, a pensieve; in the Harry Potter books a pensieve is a magical bowl where memories can be stored and viewed to be examined at will.  Albus Dumbledore possesses one and, now due to Project 365, so do I.  This was completely unexpected on my part and it remains a happy discovery.  I would recommend doing a Project 365 for this experience alone.  

 

    

You learn certain things when participating in something like this; celebrating the ridiculous, the sublime, and everything in between.  There were some days that I had a hard time choosing just one photo and other days where nothing presented itself and I had to get, “creative” to meet my self-imposed deadline.  Doing a Project 365 you see not only how large the world is but how small it can be too; you become a moment collector and some of those moments speak to you. 

I saw that some pictures inspired me to write poems like this one…

I found that I had a neighbor who likes to decorate his antique John Deer tractor with flags for Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

I watched the seasons change and found that I prefer the blue skies of spring & summer to the grey skies of winter.  I found that I subscribe to the James Taylor philosophy of choices in hues.

Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose…

There were days at the beach…

And the odd weather event…

Some of the things that I photographed this year are gone now.  They don’t exist anymore.  There is the payphone where I ran into the girl (again) who would become my wife.  It’s been torn up for an expansion project and now it only lives in my memory and my pensieve on Project 365.

The places some familiar…

Some forgotten…

And then there were the beautiful sights that I was lucky enough to see and to try to capture in the lens of my Android cell phone.

My pensieve has kept them all – even when I forget a moment, Project 365 remembers.  These days I need all the help I can get remembering; when I find my precious time is pulled so many places that I never wanted it to go it becomes vital to steal some of those moments back.  Here are 365 moments that I stole this Year of our Lord, 2013 documented in my Project 365: http://www.pinterest.com/theevilchicken/project-365/.

I will be starting my Project 365 – 2014 Edition immediately.  I couldn’t recommend the experience higher to you, Gentle Reader.  Moment collecting has its rewards and I’m looking forward to a rewarding New Year.

Until then, Gentle Reader, may God hold you in the palm of his hand throughout the coming year and may we both be comparing our Project 365 – 2014 editions one revolution around the sun from now.

Happy New Year!