Capturing your right-now life
Ding! goes my phone for the umpteenth time this week. Emails, texts, and reminders act as little intrusions in my already distracted day. I flit from one response to the next, thoughts and to-dos scattered like the piles of clothes across my teenage bedroom floor. I’ll take care of that in a bit, I’d say, moving onto the next little task while never truly making a dent.
If I’m not careful, my world starts to revolve around the interruptions rather than the intentions.
In the past year, I’ve found myself longing to deliberately keep track of my life. Yes, I keep a calendar and task list and track my time for work projects. More than that, I want to know what my life is made of day-to-day. This year, I’ve been practicing paying attention to my life. While it may seem counter-intuitive, I’m using a bit of technology to help.
I’m a visual learner. I process and remember information best when I can absorb it through an image. To assist in my quest of paying attention, I have been capturing a simple one-second-long video each day. At the end of the month, I use an app like “1 Second Everyday” to compile them. I’ve taken one-second videos of everything from wedding receptions to reading books at home to video calls with friends.
This simple way of capturing my everyday life helps me pay attention and reflect in a few ways.
It helps me notice where I thrive.
By capturing my little moments on camera, I pick up on the fulfilling activities already present in my life. Seeing videos that represent going to the library each week or spending quality time with my spouse act as cues to continue finding and doing those joyful tasks.
It helps me notice what I lack.
These short videos also reveal my unhealthy habits. Sometimes, I notice that my videos are full of screens or distinctly lack time spent in nature. When I struggle to remember to take a video for the day, it is usually an indication that my day did not contain many life-giving moments. By noticing what I lack, I am more likely to pay closer attention the next day.
It helps me stay grateful in present circumstances.
My life may not look exactly how I’d hoped, but there is still good to be found here. Capturing those moments of contentment and joy help me stay grateful even when my circumstances are less than perfect. It reminds me that God has goodness for me every day.
Scripture for meditation
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
Psalm 139:17-18 (NIV)
Prompts for reflection and journaling
Take a short video each day this week and ask:
What brings me joy day to day?
Where am I lacking intentionality?
What can I be grateful for today?
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