a day, a year, a life...: 365 project

something about the 'beyond layers' challenge this week hit home to me in a big way.

it's all about self portraits this week and, for most photographers, cameras only feel right when they're pointed somewhere else. i am no different.

but somewhere in all the words i read - all the posts, the blog entries, the comments - i found an important and personal message.

i need to know who i am at 57 years old.

i am older, my hair is gray, my skin is wrinkled and my stomach is getting far from flat. as i type this, i have on two pairs of glasses. so that is what i look like.

but who am i?

i have documented my life over years of picture-taking. but i photographed my surroundings, the world as i saw it. i love those pictures and sure, they are a record of who i was as i photographed them. but all of a sudden, it seems very important to take pictures of me, of who i am right now. i want to know who i have become...

maybe its the strong feeling of time passing that's making it seem important.

or maybe it's more about the 'lost' feelings i've had lately - where do i go from here?

my 'career' defined me for more than 33 years, but i am not as interested in it as i wish i was.

i don't long to garden like i used to, even HGTV isn't the draw it used to be.

spending a year, seeing the outside and the inside of myself, documenting my life... this seems important right now. it feels like, if i do this, i will not only record a year of my life, i will impact this year in ways yet unknown...

so, since this is feeling pretty important right now, i called my twin sister to see if she would play too. and she felt the exact same way and she is going to join me on the journey. which is one reason why i love her; we are on the same page, almost always :)

i don't quite know where to put my pictures so i am adding this blog in hopes that it turns out to be the proper place to record my year. if not, i will move it elsewhere.

for now, here i go...