10 Commitments, 100 Discoveries: #9 – One Photo a Day

Hi, I’m a self proclaimed commitment-phobe. But, I’m also one that is working very hard to change. Honestly, it’s one of my toughest struggles. But, I am proud to say it is one that I am chipping away at slowly but surely. One day, when I tell my kids of my fear of commitment they will just laugh and say, “No way, not you!”

With the commitment, 1 Year, 10 Projects, 100 Discoveries, I’m working to show myself that commitments are like trains; it doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on. Discoveries “#60-69″ are about commitments and plans. This post is part of that project. You can see all 10 commitments here and the entire project here. Focus on the plans, I sure am!

Today is the 365th day of the year. If I was a perfectionist, I’d be distraught over missing 25 of my 2011 “One a Day” photos. I also wouldn’t look past the times when I had more than 1 photo for a day. After all, the tagline for the project was “with creative license.” Why? Because the project wasn’t necessarily an exercise in taking one photo a day or becoming a better photographer, it was about commitment. It was about sticking with something for a year even if, and inevitably, when, there were “slips”.

When reading about one photo a day projects, all the posts said it is a big undertaking. I saw it more as fun. As the year continued, I also realized that it was a project with a HUGE payoff.

Here’s just a few reasons I fell in love with something that started, in my mind, as “simple and fun”:

• Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)
• The year-long photo album is an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.
• Not only will friends keep you honest about the project, but they love being a part of it. It’s fun for friends to be there when you take your daily picture. And, it’s an even better feeling when they realize that your moment with them was special enough to “make the cut”.
• You start to see the world in a whole different way. You appreciate and notice the “little things” more often.
• You have a treasure trove of your own artwork to use for anything – magnets, personalized postcards, to decorate next year’s calendar, framed pictures for your house, office, the possibilities are endless!

I haven’t quite figured out how I want to display all of them together, but it’s been fun to use them in a variety of forms from magnets to a customized iPhone cover to postcards for friends and family to artwork for my new apartment, office and more!

The scary part? This is one commitment (with a twist, of course) I want to carry into 2012. The best part? Not only did this project teach me that commitments can be “easy,” but it also gave me the desire to stick with and continue a commitment past its original expiration date.

It looks like I’m well on my way to leaving my fear of commitment in the past