Last year I decided to take on a challenge: take one photo every day for an entire year.

It started out as a silly challenge — I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I never anticipated that I would learn so much from recording my year through photos.

I got to do some crazy things this year. I spent the first four months of 2013 in Europe. Even just typing that it still seems foreign to me that I actually did that. I lived in London, which gave me many new opportunities and experiences. One of which was to have traditional afternoon tea in Kensington Gardens.

My flatmates and I also participated in International Pillow Fight Day in Trafalgar Square while in London. Talk about a unique opportunity!

I was able to do some globe trotting while abroad. When my sister visited me during my spring break, we explored Madrid, Spain, and had an adventure weekend kayaking, hiking, and coasteering in Wales.

I had the opportunity to travel solo for the first time (which my parents weren’t too excited about). I was in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was a great city to introduce me to traveling alone.

Road-tripping across Ireland with my grandma was another highlight!

My photo journaling reveal how very often my life is unglamorous, however. Even while abroad, I had days where I struggled to find something unique to take a picture of. I have many pictures that show the day to day grind that consumed my life for much of 2013.

(This was bring-your-otter-to-work day)

Taking a picture every day forced me to look for the little nuances that made every day different. No two days were the same — even if I worked multiple 10-8  days in a row, different things happened on each shift. I had to train myself to be alert to those differences and I came to appreciate them.

I started stopping at sights I normally would have driven past (like the one above) to take a picture and admire whatever I had stumbled upon.

Things like cooking (which I had never done before this year) became an adventure. I tried to see how creative I could get with whatever I had left in the kitchen (or could get cheap at the grocery store).

I started seeing the beauty in where I live.

Ultimately (as silly as this may sound) the challenge to take a picture every day for a year helped me especially when I was ‘in the dumps’. It gave me a reason to look for the positives of my life and helped me see them even when things weren’t looking up.

So, I challenge you. 2014 is about to start. Try it out! You may be surprised to see how a year in your life unfolds through photos.