In 2010, I posted a picture on Flickr from each day of the year - my 365 Project.  When I began that project, I had no idea what I was getting into.  If I had understood how difficult it would be, I wouldn't have started.  I also had no idea how alive all that work would make me feel. Now, six months after finishing, I miss it.  

Last night I was rereading Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird.  It is a book specifically about writing, but most of the book is applicable to anything creative.  Anne Lamont's dad gave her this advice about writing:

“Do it every day for a while,” my father kept saying.  “Do it as you would do scales on the piano.  Do it by prearrangement with yourself.  Do it as a debt of honor.  And make a commitment to finishing things.”

YES.  That’s what I missed about my 365 Project.  Taking photos every day.  Practicing new things and getting better at what I already did well.  Knowing every morning that I had some creative work ahead of me.  And, finishing at least one photo to be posted.  Not surprisingly, my photography improved - a lot.

I still take photos every day, and I post a few when I get around to it.  But I miss the goal of doing one every day.  My project made me think when I got up in the morning about what might work for a photo that day and if bedtime rolled around and there was still no photo: I had to think fast.  

But there are some reasons I don’t want to start another 365.  I found that when I was doing a photo every day last year, the worst part for me was when I fell behind.  The first time it happened was when we went on vacation.  I came back and had ten days of photos to get posted.  But there was no time to catch up because I had to do the photo for that day.  The train just kept rolling and soon I was two weeks behind and it was hard to get excited about doing a photo for the day I was in.  

So, I’ve come up with a project that I’m hoping will bring most of the good stuff from the 365, without the parts that I don’t want in my life right now.  Here it is: forty photos from my year posted on Fridays: 40 Friday Photos.  If I miss a week, I’m moving on to the next week.  There’s some room for error.  

There was also something I loved but didn’t expect about doing my 365 - camaraderie.  My dear brother, Joe, was also doing the 365 Project (he got me started), and some other friends were doing it too.  I looked forward to seeing what they’d posted every morning and if they hadn’t posted for awhile, I missed them.  Because of these people, I didn’t consider quitting.  I was much more inclined to comment and encourage someone who was doing this crazy project too.  I was sustained by the encouragement of these friends as I went through the year.  

I’d love to have some companions this year as I work toward my goal.  You don’t need to be a great photographer (it’s okay if you are) and you don’t need a great camera.  You just need a love of photography and a desire to create some of your own photos on a regular basis.  Post a photo at 40 Friday Photos.