13GRAM: A Year of Rediscovery

… and so 2012 quietly went off stage without too much apocalyptic fanfare.

I spent New Year’s Eve at Montefiore Hill with some friends, waiting for the fireworks from afar while keeping watch of our mobile for any incoming greetings and wishes, and being silly with our sparklers. With the year ending, I thought that I should have a personal project this year as well – I know that my thesis and my work at the uni will keep me well-occupied but to ensure that I remember 2013 for each day that it represents, I want to upload one picture a day to Instagram. I name this project 13GRAM and although I know that this idea is by no means original, at least it would give me something else to focus on other than data, coding and thesis writing. 🙂

This personal project fits with my spiritual vision for this year to rediscover God as well, while holding on to Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.” as my verse for the year.  Taking pictures to represent every single day of the year will not be an easy task – there will be days where I undoubtedly will be snap-happy with great moments to capture, and then face the dilemma of picking one to represent the day. There will be other days where things are mundane and I will be forced to appreciate the beauty of the day by taking a photo of simple things and discovering the details that I have never seen before.

Today is one of those mundane days – I’m staying home to slowly kick myself to start working again, and I found it hard to take a picture of my very familiar surrounding and find something beautiful to share. After a couple of failed shots, I settle with a picture of my backyard – the vines have now completely covered the whole pergola, providing shade for the outdoor settings that I bought some years ago. It’s a welcome place to rest from the sun and the heat, especially since Adelaide is going to experience a heatwave from tomorrow for the next five days or so.

So have a look at the Instagram pictures as I walk on through the year – on days where I don’t write much, I’m sure you will probably know what kind of day I am facing that day. 🙂