"Never underestimate the big importance of small things." - Matt Haig, The Midnight Library
In 2020, I started a personal project meant to be a challenge to deliberately slow down and take a moment to stop and appreciate the details that are always present, but not often noticed. I decided to call it #everydayeveryday — a pretty straightforward title to describe my goal to take a photo (or two or ten) of an everyday moment in my life, every day.
That first year, I never missed a day. I took more than 750 photos for the project.
This year, I continued the project, but I missed a lot of days. I won’t sugarcoat it: I found it difficult to leave my apartment some days this summer and fall. I wouldn’t quite call it depression, but I certainly didn’t feel great.
I would see a pretty sunrise out of the window, but couldn’t quite drum up the motivation to take a good photo of it. I felt irrationally upset about the fall colors not arriving until late October. I had a 343-day streak learning French on Duolingo, then one day, for reasons I still can’t explain, I just stopped. I cried while listening to the Mamma Mia soundtrack. I made every excuse possible for not getting outside to exercise: the trails were covered in twigs so I couldn’t rollerblade, all the sidewalks in my neighborhood were under construction so I couldn’t walk my normal route, the smoky air from the wildfires out West wasn’t healthy to breathe, it was too hot out, etc.
I read a New York Times article that described this feeling as ‘languishing.’
"Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness," the article read. "It feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield." That is the perfect description of how I felt.
Somehow though, I still managed to take more than 300 photos for my #everydayeveryday project this year. Looking back on them all in one place makes me think of one word: resilience. Despite all of the horrible things that happened this year, the world is still a beautiful place filled with possibility and opportunity.
I got my first full-time, permanent job; got married (!); traveled to Colorado twice; read 60 books; went to a lot of farmers markets and celebrated the first year of the Business Record's Fearless initiative. I collected a lot of leaves and took lots of photos of flowers. I tried calamari for the first time. I bought a kayak. I met a lot of new people while still maintaining relationships with old friends. I discovered new corners of Des Moines and looked at the world in new ways.
Last year, the #everydayeveryday project gave me a sense of purpose and kept me from spiraling during the pandemic. This year, the project reminded me that you don't have to seek out and achieve the superlatives to accomplish something. Even though I didn't meet my goal of taking a photo every day, I still took some, and that's what matters.
So with that, I’ll leave you with one more quote:
“For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.” - Amanda Gorman
JANUARY
The year started off strong with a gorgeous morning on Jan. 3 that looked like it was straight out of a snow globe. A thick blanket of fog smothered Central Iowa and because it was only 9 degrees outside, it clung to everything. Then the sun peeked out and made everything glow.
FEBRUARY
This photo is so abstract, but it perfectly illustrates the reason why I started this project in the first place. The photo is of a reflection of a snowbank outside the passenger window, but framing it is the snow-covered sunroof in my car. I just happened to see it while sitting at a long red light.
Turns out when you make lots of pasta in a small apartment when it's below zero out, your windows fog up pretty quickly.
MARCH
On the anniversary of the pandemic, I discovered that at a certain time of day, the light hits my bathroom mirror in such a way that it creates a rainbow refraction. I found it fitting that I'm still able to find new scenes in a one-bedroom apartment after spending so much time in it.
APRIL
What's an April in Iowa without another dusting of snow? I went for a walk in the neighborhood and in doing so, four different people stopped their cars and asked if I wanted a ride and thought I was crazy for walking *voluntarily* in the snow.
On this particular day, I spent almost 20 minutes laying underneath this cherry blossom tree, watching bees and wasps gathering pollen. (Fun fact: I'm also very allergic to bee and wasp stings and was carrying around an expired Epi-Pen, so this was an exercise in fearlessness.) I would have stayed longer, only a family was staring me down because they wanted to take photos underneath the tree. I suppose I couldn't blame them.
MAY
A strong, strong contender for the best sunset I have ever seen. (Taken from my friend Haley's balcony in Longmont, CO)
JUNE
I was out on assignment in northeast Iowa, and decided to take an hour to walk around Backbone State Park. My family spent many long weekends camping at Backbone when I was younger, so it was very therapeutic to rediscover some of my favorite trails.
Never in my life have I had this many mosquito bites at one time. On my right arm/shoulder alone, I had 15.
JULY
AUGUST
Perhaps one of my favorite assignments ever: To go to the 38th floor of 801 Grand and photograph Des Moines from above. The entire floor was vacant, so I was able to wander throughout every room. Dozens of turkey vultures roost on the balconies and they were very photogenic, if not a bit ominous.
I always love spending time in the Rocky Mountains. Unfortunately, the smoke from wildfires was thick and obscured some of the views, especially in Rocky Mountain National Park.
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
My favorite tree in the neighborhood. I got really sick (not COVID, thankfully) at the end of October and wasn't able to go outside and enjoy the fall colors, which was extremely frustrating. Though I did muster up the strength to walk a few hundred yards and take a few photos of this tree, and that helped my mood.
The ash trees that line our street are stunning in the fall.
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
I try to regularly post moments like this on Instagram. Follow along at @everyday_everydayproject.
Credits:
All photos by Emily Kestel.