It has almost been a year since the POTD (picture of the day)started. It was about this time last year that I was putting the final touches on what the Rules would be and dragged another person into doing it with me. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time. One pic a day for 365 days. No double dipping - if you took 50 pictures in one day and you took them between 1201 am and 1159pm, you could only use one of those. The rest would be ineligible to be considered.
The first 10 days gave me an idea of what it would be. There were several days I completely forgot until I was in bed and I would JUMP up and take a picture of ANYthing to fulfill the obligation and go by the Rules. It truly was driven by the Letter of the Law.
Letter of the Law.
Color in the lines.
No Exceptions.
Ever.
I am not going to make big deal about this on Nov 1. I will quietly look at my POTD files and put this chapter behind me. I am taking my friend who I dragged into this idea out for a Celebratory Get Together(your choice, Mrs D). I want to hear her thoughts and share mine with her.
The one thing that really stands out for me is last month. When I got sick at the beginning of September, honest to God, I thought about the POTD when I couldn't lift my head off the couch - I will have a good reason NOT to have much of a folder during the month. Still going by the Letter of the Law. By the time I started to feel better, over a month had gone by and October was here. I have taking some October pictures but haven't move them into the October folder - a Big Rule violation.
The calendar may say I have 20 days to go but truly, I am done now. I have learned what I was suppose to learn. Life is not meant to be lived by the Letter but by the Spirit of the Law. It has taken me a year to get that. The day I took the first picture, I had pass this church and had to go back. I had wondered how I would know which picture would be the One on those days when I didn't have an activity planned ahead of time. After passing the church, I turned around, pulled in the parking lot and took the picture of the sign. I remember smiling to myself, thinking it would always come so easy...and it didn't.
I will put my POTD file on cd and on my external HD. Often thinking throughout the year that I would never look at these again because there were not 365 pictures I had committed to. I am changing my mind. I need to remember to live in the Spirit. I need that reminder everyday. So in that spirit, Thank You POTD. Thank you for teaching me that I am not perfect, and more importantly, I don't have to be. You have been a good friend and that is all a girl really needs...
