Saturday, June 14, 2014

100 Days of Happy: A Recap

   I'M FINISHED! Boy am I glad to be done with this project. Yes, it was a very good experience, but let me tell you, it's not easy taking a picture of something that makes you happy for 100 days. Some days were definitely easier than others. Some days were total BS/a complete cheese fest (see days 89 and 24); some days I knew exactly what I was going to take a picture of before the day even began (see days 84, 83, 75, 71, 33, 27, 15, and 5); some days were a complete surprise (see days 96, 76, 26, and 4); and some days I just didn't try very hard, which completely shows (see days 98, 97, 89, 88, 79, and 63). Of course, I have my favorites, which number too many to write them all down (though day 100 and day 96 are two recent favorites).
 
   It definitely wasn't easy for me to continue on with this project at times, especially towards the beginning when I was feeling extremely anxious. I can tell you that some of the pictures taken during this project were taken simply because I was determined to make it through this project. They didn't necessarily make me happy, because I was either too anxious (near the beginning) or started to not give a shit (towards the end). Of course, none of the pictures made me unhappy as that would be besides the point; they still make up the good parts of my life, I just don't know if I'd go right to describing them as happy moments.

   I do know that keeping up with this project did help me get through my anxiety. It gave me a goal to work towards as I was simultaneously working towards a healthier me. Near the end, it did get to be a chore, especially since getting to D.C. when I've been so busy with my internship and getting settled in. However, no one said that the 100 Happy Days project would be easy. It was, in fact, the challenge that made me want to keep going. If it was easy, it wouldn't have been worth it. Not only was this project rewarding in that sense, but now I have a collection of snippets of my life from the last 100 days, sort of like a photo diary.

   I know I'll come back to my 100 Happy Days page on my blog and look back at this time fondly. It sure has been an adventure, despite the challenges it brought (including having my camera break right in the middle of the project and needing to find a back up camera ASAP). I know I've grown so much since beginning this project, as I was working through my anxiety at the same time, and I'm glad I decided to document this time of my life in this way. Yeah, I'm glad it's over (though I do admit it will be weird to not post a picture like this every day, as it has sort of become second nature), but I'm also so glad I went through with this project.

  100 Happy Days was definitely a worthwhile challenge. Is finding happiness going to be easier since going through with this? No, most certainly not. However, I think I have grown to appreciate the little things a little more. As I said earlier, I definitely didn't try very hard with some of these pictures. That doesn't mean that those pictures didn't make me happy. For instance, day 97 was a total cop out, but that doesn't mean listening to Passenger's new album didn't make me happy, because it totally did. Life isn't always about doing new and exciting things. Sometimes the best moments are the ones that are the most laid back and low key. Furthermore, my happiness isn't the same as yours. That's one of the reasons I chose to document this project on my blog instead of on facebook. I didn't want this to become an opportunity to show off to my facebook friends just how wonderful my life is, because despite this project, my life most certainly is not a complete joy ride. This project was for me as I worked through a rough time in my life; I gave people the option to look at my blog by providing links to it on facebook.

   I learned a lot through this project and, although I got tired of it towards the end, I did enjoy it overall. I hope that, if you chose to follow along with me on my journey, you enjoyed it too.

No comments:

Post a Comment