For the past couple of days I’ve been noticing a recent surge of 2011 Reflection/New Years posts and it’s been getting me in this sort of reflective mood that I guess you can’t really escape during the end of the year. I’ve been thinking a lot of this past year…a lot has happened…which of course can be said about any year, but for some reason this one felt different, a good different.
My new year’s resolution for 2011 wasn’t a particular goal…it was just about being more open to experiencing everything going on around me and taking in everything that life has to offer. It was a challenge for me to essentially stop and smell the roses and appreciate both the large and small things in life. It sounds a little cliché (and vague) yes, but if I had to put it into words that is probably the simplest I can put it.
I started the year off trying to do Project 365, 1 photo a day, everyday. I thought it would be a good way to not only develop my photography skills but also a way that I could document the year. I stopped about 1/3 of the way through because I realized that I wasn’t really accomplishing anything. I was taking pictures for the sake of keeping up with the project and at the end of the day I was just mindlessly pointing and releasing the shutter on my camera if I hadn’t already come up with a picture that day. But just because I stopped the project didn’t mean I stopped taking pictures. I say that 2011 was well documented, I definitely had my camera with me for a good majority of the year and a lot of the memories worth cherishing were captured for me to look back on for years to come.
This year was good to me and was filled with amazing moments and memories that I will forever hold close to my heart. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been filled with it’s fair share of difficulties, tears, sadness, and all of the above, but in an effort to stay positive, those little speed bumps (and overcoming them) also helped to make this year what it was.
So I decided to do my own New Year’s challenge this year…to look through the multitude of pictures that I’ve taken this year, reflect upon them, and share what they mean to me. I want to be able to share with you all the people, the places, and the things that have helped to shape & define this year. I love looking back at pictures and being able to recall the exact moment and reason why each was taken and those in particular are the ones I will be sharing. Some pictures will need explanations while others can speak for themselves. I don’t know if I can finish this challenge by the New Year but I will for sure try.
