Chasing squirrels. You’ve heard the expression before. It’s meant as a polite way of saying, “your attention span is craptastic.” And most of the time, I think it’s a pretty accurate and appropriate descriptor. Although, I must say I think we can learn from the Hairy Beasts: sometimes chasing squirrels is just…fun.

But that’s not my point here. Last year I was chasing internet squirrels (the worst kind of squirrel-chasing ADHD) and stumbled across the concept of a photo journal. A photo a day for some defined (or not) period of time. Somewhere in that same squirrel pack (herd, pod, gaggle?) I also discovered the brevity journal: a recap of the day in six words. Somewhere near the end of the chase, I lost the links for properly crediting the concepts.

At any rate, in 2014 I kept a photo journal during April and a brevity journal in December. Both were powerful exercises in that each forced me to view my world, in that moment (day), from a different perspective. The photo journal made me pay attention to the things I always see but forget to observe beyond daily routine. The brevity journal pushed me to practice concisely articulating context. Both were fabulous in shaking up how I perceive and interact with my world.

And that’s worth replicating. This time, I plan to do both.  So here’s to another month of journaling.

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April 1

Gramma Littlejohn’s azaleas; fond childhood memories.