The fabulous Laura at Navigating the Mothership is passing her Day in the Life baton to yours truly. I'm happy to continue her tradition of rounding up various bloggers, asking them to document a single day in their lives, then posting links for all to read. Consider it a glimpse into the daily details that tend to fade away as time marches on. In other words: super interesting although it may seem super boring in theory. It's not and I love it!
The details:
I will continue doing these quarterly: January, April, July, and October. To keep things simple and so that I have a more solid time frame in mind, I will plan to post the reminder at the beginning of those months. You will the first fourteen days of those months to capture your day. You can email me your link and preferred picture by the 16th. I will plan to have the posts linked up on my blog by the 20th.
So any time from today until April 14th you should record your day in detail.
It can be as specific or as general as you want. I personally tend to record these days as a note in my phone, including specific times of day as I'm psychotic with details. Totally not necessary for you to do the same, as simple is probably better and means it's less overwhelming! I try to jot down quotes from the kids, to mention my thoughts as things are happening, and to keep track of the nitty gritty details in a day. I would probably remember enough if I just sat down and tried to type it all a day or two later but I don't trust my mommy brain *that* much. So a note on my phone is a must for me.
Snap pictures as you go along, the easiest method being with your phone but if you are feeling extra energetic, a 'fancy' camera also works for a post like this. Sometimes just taking a screen shot of your phone to remember the time of day, or an email you read, the weather forecast, et cetera is helpful as you write up the posts. I also like the seemingly random pictures of messy houses, meals, receipts, pets, the scenery from your parking lot spot, your house, and so on. Making collages for your pictures is helpful when it's difficult to choose which images to post (always a serious issue for me). Again, get as detailed or as general as you want with the pictures, but I think the mundane details are what makes these posts interesting. Don't forget to get pictures of YOU in this post, either. Get your friends and family involved. Maybe purchase a selfie stick (I secretly want one) but step in front of the camera for this post.
My method is that I just email myself the iPhone 'note' from the day, and then I paste it into my blog post as a foundation. I'll go back and clean it up, elaborate on thoughts/events, and make sure it's written in English instead of just abbreviations from my note. Then I will add the pictures after that. Whatever method works for you though, as there are many ways to write about a single day in your life!
It's a lot of fun to read back on my own posts, and it's also quite entertaining to read everyone else's day. If you want to play along this quarter, here is what to do:
-record any day from now until April 14th. Type it up and turn it into a blog post. You can do it!
-email me the following (to mylifeintransitionblog at gmail dot com) by April 16th: your blog title, your location, the link to your post, and please attach the file of the photo you want to be featured in the round up post. (This is different than how Laura did it, but I'm trying to make this more streamlined to save me some time).
-I will post everyone's link and picture on April 20th here on my blog.
I love reading these posts from women all around the world, and encourage you to try it even if you aren't a blogger. And it's definitely not just for mommy bloggers, either! You could turn these posts into a photo book, you could let them live online if you have a blog, or you could just look back on them and reminisce about the glory days once life settles down a bit more (ha!). Laura also records an entire week during one of these quarterly sessions, something I've never tackled before, but maybe someday. I know she makes those posts into a photo album book and her family is going to greatly appreciate the time it took to record every day events.
So pick your day (or week) and get to it!
My last DITL: Winter 2014
All twelve of my DITL posts
All of Laura's DITL and Week in the Life posts
Laura's Round Up posts
Excited to do this! I've always wanted to, but never knew when they were.
ReplyDeleteYAY! I've been doing DITL posts a few times a year but I've never been part of the link up! So fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm accepting the challenge! I feel I'll only really do it if I commit for "all the world to see"...This seems so daunting, but I just KNOW I'll look back on these posts some day and be SO appreciative of them! Thanks for opening this up to a bunch of "new blood"!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. Don't know if I can pull it off; last time I did one of those I was in dire need of a stiff drink at the end of the day. But I absolutely love reading other DITL's.
ReplyDeleteExcited that the torch will be passed. I love doing the DitL posts and they are even better to read a year+ later. I've marked my calendar!
ReplyDeleteI'm very excited to try and do a DITL post! I always love reading others so it should be fun! I'm also going to attempt the blog every day in April! You've completely inspired me!
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