Do I need to sign up to participate in Day In The Life™?
Nope! There's no workshop you need to join for Day In The Life™. Most people follow along with me on my Instagram throughout the scheduled day.
What size album should I use?
This is really up to you. I've used a variety of sizes over the years including 12x12, 8.5x11, and 6x8. For 2021, I'll be using a 4x6 album.
What do I do if I want to participate?
Get excited and follow along on my Instagram. I spend the actual day gathering photos and thoughts. After I've collected all that, I begin working on my album. I'll share my created album on my blog.
Here's a basic list of what I usually do during the day of documenting:
TAKE PHOTOS. Commit to keeping your camera with you throughout the day. Capture everything. Capture things that may seem silly or dumb. Capture the normal stuff. Capture little things. Capture your environment. Here's a couple questions I ask myself or I keep in mind as I am going about this project: what's my daily routine, where did I go, who did I see, what do I do, what does the inside of my home look like, where do I spend the most time, etc. Capture stuff that you use everyday: your computer, a coffee mug, a favorite pair of shoes, a book, etc. Make sure to take a photo of yourself.
DESIGNATE A PLACE FOR NOTES. Have a notebook or a couple sheets of paper set aside to jot down notes, stories, things to remember about the day. Don't make this complicated. Don't run out and buy a new notebook. The back of some junk letters, the leftover pages in a journal you have always meant to get around to, etc. You simply need somewhere to write down notes over the course of the day.
TAKE NOTES. Once you set up something to write on, do the writing. What should you write? Thoughts you have during the day, things your kids or your boss or your partner say, things you notice (simple and profound), what you ate, etc. Go for the basics. These notes will be transferred into your album when the time comes. See more about recording the story under the category heading below.
DESIGNATE A PLACE TO STORE LIFE-STUFF. Part of the process is collecting bits and pieces of your life over the course of the day. For this I recommend setting up an envelope or folder. You may use some of this stuff and you may not. I tend to keep things like receipts, handwritten notes, etc. These will be companions to your photos + words.
What kind of photos should I take?
- chores
- loves
- dishes
- food – what do you eat, cook, buy, etc
- driving to work
- driving your kids to school/kids at the bus stop
- computer
- what you do for work
- looking down at your shoes
- your front door
- thermometer/temperature outside
- gas prices
- the grocery store/your grocery cart/bags of groceries
- the mess
- piles of stuff
- the funny face your kid is making/funny things they are saying
- laundry
- your child's room, toys, favorite books, etc.
- you – make sure to get yourself in these images
- document the imperfect normalness of your existence
Okay, I took photos and wrote down stories and collected stuff. Now what?
Awesome! Now you get to do the fun part of putting it together in an album. You can follow along with me on my blog for how I bring the words and photos and intentional products together or you can totally make it your own. Check out my Day In The Life™ gallery for ideas from past projects.