018: a new day, a new email
Two projects on what happens in a day.
I once listened to this podcast on memory-making and time, and how novel experiences help with creating a new memory, and remembering that period of time. For example, we brushed our teeth this morning, but how many of us actually remember that period of time? But, if we decide to shake things up, deliberately decide to brush our teeth with the other hand, that might just be enough of a change to log it in the memory bank.
So I decided to keep track of one new thing a day for a year. They weren't necessarily the first time I've ever done the thing, but it was the first time I did it since starting the list and decided to notice it and log it. Early on, I would go through the day and whenever I was doing an activity, I might just mentally note that this is something novel, something new. I also wanted to oscillate between jotting down very specific examples that feel unique as well as very common daily encounters. Eventually, as with most year-long projects, life got busy, and instead of finding time to notice the activity during the act, it became much more like a journal, reflecting on a new experience I encountered over the course of the day, or even reflecting on what happened a few days ago, as I filled out my days.
There's probably something worth investigating with that shift, from an intentional practice to find a time to notice and be present in the awareness, to a habit of recollecting and archiving. It's also interesting to note the through-lines and small plots that emerge: how car-centric things are, how illness takes over a period of time, how depression zaps the energy to seek new experiences.
Here are a few of my favorite observations:
chase clouds: It was near sunset and the clouds were just so beautiful, big and fluffy with an orange-red backdrop, but I was on a freeway and the trees and the highway divider was blocking a good view of the sky, so I pulled off the freeway and just started driving, hoping to find a clear view. By the time I got out from the maze of avenues and side streets, the sun had already fully set.
find my car parked at a block party: Luckily they left some room for me to drive out.
fill up a Menards 15% off bag: In my head, I keep thinking Menards is like The Home Depot, but it's not, it's so much more. They have everything. It's amazing.
I will say, it's actually kind of incredible how jotting down a phrase or a few words can help me remember an otherwise regular day, doing regular things.
A tiny site where it calculates what percent of the day it is, and then uses that to change the hue of a gradient of colors. Over the course of a day, it will move through the spectrum. The passage of time, not as numbers, but as colors.