NYC + KC

About a year ago, in my hours of mindless internet parusing, I came upon a site called 3191: A Year of Mornings. The site was created by two creative ladies, online friends who lived 3191 miles apart. One lived in Portland, Maine, while the other resided in Portland, Oregon, and both of them being creative souls, came up with a wonderful idea. Each woman would take a photo every morning, and then upload it to their blog. The photo project that ensued was a beautiful statement on simple living, the connection of friends and total joy. They would not tell each other what they planned to take photos of, and yet, the photos seemed to belong together (check out this to see what I’m talking about). The project was eventually turned in to a book, and then two more websites, A Year of Evenings and 3191 Miles Apart (their current project).

I came upon the idea again a few weeks ago (when Dooce posted about their book) and talked with a few friends about it. We all thought it was such a fun idea, and wondered if we’d have the discipline to keep up with a daily photo. It sounds easy, but lives can be so frantic and unpredictable, would we be able to manage the committment?

One friend and I have decided to take on the challenge, and so far, the results have been delightful. We’re calling the project NYC + KC and have been posting now for almost two weeks. This project is truly a selfish one for me. To be able to see something that happened this very morning in my friend, Theresa’s, life, especially when we live light years away, has been a gift. We post pictures of whatever we happen to come upon each day, from street vendors to murals, from school papers to long commutes, from ski trips to morning coffee. Each day is a surprise to us and I’m so happy we’ve decided to do this. Our plan is to post one picture every day for a year, although who knows how long this will last. On some days, pictures don’t get posted until late at night, other days they’re posted by 8 a.m., just depends on the bob and weave of life.

Theresa and I live very differently. She’s in the city, I’m in the suburbs. I have an SUV, she doesn’t have a current driver’s license. She is newly married and living in Brooklyn. I’m a mother and wife of a few years with a yard to mow and square footage to clean. I was afraid doing this project would make me yearn for what she has, freedom and creativity and a daily date with a city I love so much. But, in truth, although there are days I wish I was the one getting on the subway or reading newspapers on the street, for the most part, I’m even finding my own life interesting. I really enjoy looking back at what we’ve posted, and seeing what, on that particular morning, caught my eye.

Here are a few of my favorites (so far). You can keep up with the project by clicking on the icons in the top left hand corner of this page.

Day One

Day Four

Day Six

Day Ten

Day Twelve

You can view our joint Flickr page here. We each post a photo daily (you can view the NYC photos here and the KC ones here), and then combine the two. You can see the photos side by side here.

The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.” – His Holiness, the Dalai Lama (via Twitter)