A week ago I posted a vlog, just a summary of my week or what a week looks like. Not everything was in it, at least not everything. I forgot to film some things or I couldn't film everywhere. Before and after I wondered why.
I mean, who cares how I work at home at my workplace, what I work on, what it's like to go to school and study. Why am I doing this? I've realised that I'm mainly doing it for myself. Because it's actually boring to watch the videos. They're just clips and I don't say anything. But it helps me personally.
It's a great way to capture my everyday life, which feels so normal and not as glamorous as it might look in pictures. Even though I'm currently working on projects that I dreamed of two or six years ago and never thought I'd be able to realise this year. But while I'm working, I mainly feel the stress because everything still has to go to print or because I had this idea in my head but somehow can't quite realise it. It doesn't feel as magical as the idea was. It doesn't necessarily and not always feel like a dream.
Filming helps me to celebrate my everyday life a little more, to enjoy the freedom I have because I have to go to school so little and work from home so much, to plan so much myself. Writing in my diary reminded me of what it was like when I still went to school "normally". I would have dreamed of being able to work and go to school like I do now. This vlog would be a video I would love to show my younger self. Also because I remember how frustrated I often was as a child because I thought I would never be able to draw as well. And now I often only see what I'm not so good at and get frustrated. But I was able to realise my dream with commissioned work. And I don't think my drawings are bad, I just see potential in many places. I would like to show my younger self where all the practising has already led, because I know she would be proud of me. And that's why it's nice to watch these videos and say yes, even if it doesn't feel like a lot is changing from one day to the next, a lot is happening over time. There's that saying, how is it possible, that from day to day nothing seems to change, but when I look back now, everything is different. And I think that applies very well. It's exciting to make these vlogs or video diaries to show my younger self that a lot does change and it will be worth the investment.
Filming also makes a difference in everyday life. It's nice to see the work I'm doing at my desk or when I'm drawing through the videos. It can look aesthetically pleasing. And I can see everyday moments such as breaks outside in the garden, sketching, movement pasues from a different angle. Looking at everyday life through the lens makes it seem more exciting than if I just live day by day.
And also with the longer-term changes, these vlogs can be a look back, even if so much may change again in two years' time. Video is a completely different kind of recording than diary writing. Filming helps me to celebrate the ordinary, the everyday more and to recognise the beauty of these small moments anew. Like simply being able to make myself a coffee in the kitchen in the morning. Because it's not always going to be the case that I work from home for 5 days.
That's why it helps me personally to make this vlog.
I plan to make this video diary, capturing moments that might not seem so special to me at first, into a habit and see what happens.
Maybe it would be something for you to capture your everyday life a bit like this to recognise more special moments through the lens of a camera, when it seems to you that it's just the way it always is, because that doesn't really exist, does it?