Walking the Labyrinth: Every Day for a Year (Almost): A Lesson in Perseverance

With the start of a new year, I rarely look to resolutions and areas of improvement. I try to do that on more of a daily basis, starting every day with the notion of improvement, large and small, from the previous day. When I stumbled upon the idea of a 365 project, however, January 1st seemed the natural starting point.

I also decided I would challenge my students to complete a 365 project with the promise that in a year’s time we could meet as a group to share what we accomplished.

I don’t recall where I first heard of the 365 idea, but, upon investigation, I did come across the 365Project website, so I directed the students there to get a flavor of what a 365 challenge could be like. Although the website focuses on taking photographs, I encouraged students to think of other things they could do instead. They could make note of what they did (since they had not photo evidence) and could then share. We discussed challenges, amongst others, such as the following:

a random act of kindness each day
saying “hello” to someone new each day
listening to a new song each day
choosing a theme for photographs: trees, breakfast, whatever is behind you at a certain time of day

To encourage them, I tried to put students at ease, noting that it would be okay if it didn’t happen every day, that sometimes life may get in the way. I also pointed out that 365 was a goal, and if they came up short in other ways, then that was okay, too. Another wonderful thing about a 365 challenge, I relayed to the students, is that they could start one on any day, not just January 1st. (I encouraged students again after the first with this tactic and again a few weeks later.) When the year was up, we could share, as much or as little as we accomplished, our success or our failures.

Twenty-six students said that they were going to to a 365 project.

Did any actually followed through on this difficult task? (I believe I recall one student mentioning she had been taking pictures of her breakfast.) I will touch base with those students who said they wanted to attempt the challenge and call them together to share.

I’m interested to see what any of them have accomplished.

As for myself, I have come to value the 365 challenge, and upon recent reflection, want to challenge my new students to throw their hats into the ring. A 365 project is really one about perseverance, as it is easy not to follow through. It was difficult to complete my task every day, especially without feeling or being repetitive. There is great satisfaction in the accomplishment. It has been a very positive experience for myself, and I am quite impressed with some of the photos I took for my challenge. These characteristics make the task one students should partake in, as they can then provide another model for themselves of working through a difficult task, achieving a goal, having a positive experience, and, perhaps, even inspiring others.

My 365 project from 2014 was to take photographs of whatever was above: UP. Some photos come from a perspective that I could not (or generally would not) physically get into. There is one photograph that was not taken of what was above - it was of the clouds in an airplane, so I felt it qualified. Although I did not meet my goal of a photo a day or 365 photos, I am pleased, especially with some of the more intriguing perspectives.

Below you will find the photos that complete my challenge for 2014. Now, I need to figure out what to do for 2015. I challenge you to throw your hat into the ring as well. Good luck!