168 Hours : Welcome To A Week In The Life

What do 168 consecutive hours of your life look like?

YOU CAN DO THIS.

Here's one of my favorite quotes to send you on your way:

And while it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfillment in being ordinary. For the joys that last have little relationship to achievement, to standing one step higher on the victory platform. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for the pure joy of being tired at the  end of the day. It is caring and sharing and giving and loving…
Marilyn Thomsen

I invite you to simply take a deep breath and enjoy the process. Capture those little things that you pass by everyday or those little bits of life that really do make up your everyday existence.

I also encourage you to approach this project with what I call the past perspective. Think about what you wish you knew about your parents, grandparents, etc and document those things - simple routines, thoughts, feelings, the hours of ordinary life. Let those thoughts be your guide this week as you document your own daily life.

FLICKR GROUP : Want to share your images and project? Join and upload to the Week In The Life 2010 Flickr Group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/weeekinthelife2010/

Look for a very special giveaway post coming today at noon Pacific.

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123 thoughts

  1. Emily says…
    04/19/2010

    Good luck all "a week in the life" project participants! I'm looking forward to seeing the results of all your hard work!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. Becky Swisher says…
    04/19/2010

    I am open to discover that what I think is important may truly be insignificant. I am open to documenting time. I am open to looking through my lens and seeing life move forward.

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  3. Sara Mangan says…
    04/19/2010

    I did this project at CKU in Chicago. I was looking through it last night.
    Here's some of my advise for people:
    Really, really just document the ordinary stuff. It will change so fast. My girls were 2 & 4. Now those two little girls are in school every day and I have one more at home with me.
    Don't crop all the pictures, the stuff in the background means more 4 years later than it did then.
    Document, document, document. You can put this album all together a year from now if you need to as long as you have written stuff down.
    Write down your day hour by hour. Sounds boring but I wish I had done that last time. What time was nap time? What did I do during that time? Etc.
    This is an awesome project that really does mean more a few years down the road.

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  4. dawn says…
    04/19/2010

    Thanks for starting us with an inspiring post Ali. I will copy that and put it on the front page of my album. I like Sara's advise too, thanks Sara. I'm going to record hour by hour so I can really remember what this week was for us. I can't remember my kids nap times either or what I did. They are 20,13,11,8 now and it goes by so fast. Have fun everybody.

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  5. Lissa says…
    04/19/2010

    Yay and Wow! I'm along for the ride from Australia! Can't wait to see my 'extraordinary ordinary existence' unfold this week, LIFE IS GREAT- we should celebrate and record it all! Lissa.

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  6. silvita says…
    04/19/2010

    Looking foreward to this week for a long time. I've just made the decision to keep it simple.

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  7. Susan says…
    04/19/2010

    I love that line about the joy of working hard to be tired at the end of the day, it's so true. Thanks for such a great project Ali, have a great week!
    I do have one question, would you mind sharing what lens you use when you are documenting the everyday moments? I would love to know. Thank you!

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Lauren says…
    04/19/2010

    oh ali!! this will be the first time i've ever done anything like this. usually i just do 12x 12 ages... i'm so excited! i don't know if i'll ever finish it now that i've started, but here goes n9othing! thanks for your inspiration to be better!
    Lauren in SA

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  9. Melanie says…
    04/19/2010

    This is going to be a lot of fun!

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Stacie says…
    04/19/2010

    Thanks so much Ali, for reminding us over and over that EVERY day matters! Let the fabulousness of today begin!!! :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Elisa says…
    04/19/2010

    Thank you, Sara, for your insight! Love your tips.
    Good luck, everyone!

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Anne T. says…
    04/19/2010

    Good morning Ali and all my fellow "Week in the Lifers"! So excited that this project has finally begun and I'm going to work hard to keep up with it. Thanks for the inspiring quote- I think I may put that on the inside cover of my album. I'm going to attempt this project using Stacey Julian's "Photo Album Scrapbooking technique". I have a 2 up album that holds 104 photos, so I figure I have about 14 slots to fill each day with photos and words. Trying to keep this very simple because I have a 10 week old baby and I work full time. I'm planning on sending a camera with him to the babysitter to capture his day at least once and I've gotten my husband to agree to take it to work once too ( hopefully he'll actually use it). I think this will take some of the pressure off of me and give a more well-rounded picture of a week in my family's life. The baby gets baptized this Sunday, so it will be a nice way to finish up the week. I really really hope I can keep up with this for the whole week. Good luck everyone!

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. tara pakosta says…
    04/19/2010

    I love doing week in the life!
    I am not sure I will follow along
    this time, but I just did it in Sept.
    and did "a day in the life" in march!
    I may just do a few days for fun.
    I never seem to do enough journaling
    when I do this project, have to work on
    that part of it!
    but it's one of my most fave things to do!
    You are such an encouragement, inspiration and joy!
    tara

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. vanessa says…
    04/19/2010

    I haven't paper scrapped in months. I am using this to get my creativity back. I did it in 08 and love looking back on it.

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. scrappysue says…
    04/19/2010

    I have been SO excited to start this project and its already 5pm in Dubai and I have been scribbling away all day and talking photos. This is the first time tackling this project, so thanks so much for all the info Ali, and the tips from others. Sometimes its hard to know exactly what to record! Have a GREAT week everyone; off to make a list of all the websites and blogs I have visited today.

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. {vicki{} says…
    04/19/2010

    I had my sonake my photo this morning before leaving for the day---I will do that every day this week.
    Thanks for the quote---I'll be using that too!

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Karen says…
    04/19/2010

    How exiting, I will start today! I just took a picture of my morning coffee!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. francesca di leo says…
    04/19/2010

    hi ali, i've done one week already using your past template. and i can't wait to get started again for another week. i so love the process. and so love that quote. thanks for the inspiration and mostly the encouragement to start such a fabulous project.
    francesca

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. Sabrina L says…
    04/19/2010

    Well I've started! I'm so excited for this project. I have a ton of notes so far but only about 6 pictures. I am so so loving the idea of getting the little details of our routine down. As monotonous as it seems at times to me, I would love to be able to look back and see what my mom's routine was when I was a child.

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Alayna says…
    04/19/2010

    Here we go! How great to start a Monday with something to look forward to and so many great women working on the same project right along with me - talk about motivation!

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. KathyT says…
    04/19/2010

    I'm excited to do this. I have taken lots of pictures and scrapbooked lots of pages but this is different for me. It just feels different. As my oldest just turned 18 and is heading off to University in the fall, I am dumbfounded by how quickly the time goes and how many details are lost. So this is as much for me as it is for my family.

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Mitch says…
    04/19/2010

    I've watched along on your blog in years past but never jumped in to do this. Not this year! I started getting ready this weekend. And I started out well this morning - even set the camera on self-timer next to me in the car at a stoplight!
    I'll be using a kit my friend gave me called "Simple Stories" by Memory Works. It has premade journaling cards, title blocks, etc that fit perfectly into different sized divided page protectors. I think it will fit great with this project! No turning back now since I already made the title page ;)

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. TracyBzz says…
    04/19/2010

    I'm in! I've done a 30 days album with Stacy J. Hopefully I'll post to my blog in addition to the paper version.

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. Laser says…
    04/19/2010

    I plan to start next Tuesday and go for a week. Looks like it will be a lot of fun and hope I land up with a treasured album of this one week in my life. Will there be any templates offered for inspiration?

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. elisa says…
    04/19/2010

    hi. are we going to have a flickr group for this like we do for the december daily? would love to see all of our work.

    Reply 0 Replies

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