Moment of the Day
On YouTube, you can find numerous compilations of people documenting one second a day of their lives. This translates to becoming a six minute video of the persons year.
I participated in this trend in 2017. My video is up on YouTube if you’re interested. But I warn you, it’s long. I didn’t stick to the “one-second” rule.
In 2017, my teacher shared with us a video of a guy who recorded one second out of his day, each day, to represent that moment in time. He put the videos together into one video, and made a mini movie of his past year.
My teacher challenged us to do the same with photography, taking one picture each day and placing them in a portfolio.
But this quickly became more important to me than just one assignment for a photography class. Fortunately at the time, I had one picture and/or video from each day starting at March 9th and to the present moment of receiving the photography assignment. This quickly turned into the beginning of my “moment a day” video.
From March 9, 2017 to March 9, 2018 I had at least one photo or video for each day. However,
instead of limiting myself to one second for each moment, my videos ranged from one second to five seconds. It became a habit, and all of my friends knew it to be a common thing in their lives.
Whenever I was having a good time, I’d whip out my phone and document the moment.
And as a person who struggles with mental illness (though I would never use this as an excuse, I am not officially diagnosed, and I hate the idea of bringing up my emotions for the public to see) the moment a day videos really helped.
I started the videos over spring break (because of the assignment) and that happened to be the spring break trip that would come to change my life. It was the break when I went to Costa Rica. Precious to my trip, I was always sad and full of angst. After the trip, I became a new person, filled of life, love, and hope.
You can see it in my poetry. I’ve written poetry for years and I write relatively often. If you line my poetry up chronologically, you can see patterns and waves. Your can tell what period of life I was in, what I was experiencing, and find certain motifs that ruled my thoughts for a period of time. There is a drastic change between before spring break and after. And though most of it is due to Costa Rica, the moment a day certainly played a role.
I continued to do the “moment a day” pictures and videos even after the assignment was done and turned in. I recorded one moment each day for an entire year!
And it helped me.
Whenever I was sad, I could always go back and look at the video I’d put together and reflect on when times were good. It was a constant reminder that even on my darkest days, light could still shine. Each day, I chose a moment. Typically, the moments were filled with friends, family, laughter, or something new. The majority of the video is a positive one. Sure, there were days when I only recorded a picture of a note where I wrote “today was not a good day.” Or moments when I would use a broken clock as imagery to express what I was feeling. But overall, the videos were pretty cheerful.
So, looking back on the videos when I was sad, made me feel a little bit better about myself and the life I was living. I was reminded that I had made progress and that laughter and sunshine exist and have existed for me. I didn’t feel utterly hopeless.
To this day, even when I am sad, I look back on the “moment a day” compilation, and It cheers me up.
Another reason it really helped me (and this might be the most important one) was because it trained my mind to look for the good in every day. So many times since I ended the videos I still think to myself “this would be a good ‘moment of the day.’” For example, at work, a coworker of mine put on a giant LEGO costume and danced around. At the time, it was hilarious and I thought to myself “This, this moment right here. This is a moment of the day.”
Of course, I ended my moment of the day in March of 2018.
However, since I was focused on finding a good moment each day for 365 days, I find that I still look for those moments in my days.
I am glad that I did my moment of the day while in high school. If I did it, say, in this past year (before January) most it would involve work, sleep, or my Matt.
I fell into a routine. And it wasn’t something I necessarily liked. But my mind is trained enough to pick at least one second from each day that was good.
And recently, I’ve found life to be much more exciting now that I’m living my passions.
I highly suggest that people try the “second a day” challenge. You don’t have to do it for a year. You can do it for a week, or a month, or even just 14 days. But if you’re looking to appreciate the life you’re living, I say, take the challenge!
I used my phone. I didn’t use a special camera or anything. I just whipped my phone out and taped a little moment. It was quick and it was worth it.
Take the challenge! You won’t regret it!
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