On January 1, 2011, I set out on this journey more on a whim (lacking a New Year's resolution, this became my goal). At mid-life, I was feeling like I was losing myself in the various roles that I must play - wife, mother, employee. I didn't have much time for me, to explore and do what I wanted. In fact, I'm not even sure that I knew what I would do if I had time, or, more accurately, if I made time by reprioritizing.

2011 was one of rediscovering myself, of learning how to enjoy time for me. Through this project, I am learning that I need more balance because my other roles (wife, mother of 2, economist, etc.) no longer solely sustain me. I must nurture the light within, as well as the ones outside.

I have received a better understanding of patience and the rewards that it offers as I have waited for the breeze to die down, the light to change. I have learned that sometimes, in order to achieve the outcome we want, we have to bend and shape ourselves differently than what our original response might have suggested. I know more now about discipline in reaching a goal - a photo a day seems easy enough in the beginning, but it's not. As with many other things in life, it takes committment and discipline, making the time for even a moment with a camera can be difficult on some days. And, as with many other worthwhile things in life, the achievement of the goal becomes secondary to the journey of discovery that one makes in the process.

For 2012, I'm continuing this project, however am going to allow myself to be less strict about a photo a day. I've also upgraded to an Ace membership to expand my learning into editing and see what happens (with the exception of my album cover shot, which I edited in MS Paint, all my 2011 shots were posted with only occasional cropping as post-processing) - my second album takes my 2011 photos and edits them (beyond cropping).