The Retrospective That Wasn't

It’s mid-August, and I’m writing the retrospective post for January.

I wasn’t planning on doing this. My contribution to this photoblog began to taper off around the end of 2009. In part, that was because I was using Facebook more and more to upload photos and post commentary on my life or things that amused me. But mostly, it was because I wasn’t sure this blog had anything interesting to report.

When I started a Project 365 blog in 2008, it was to take up the challenge to take a picture every day to document my life. The first year became more interesting than intended, when routine was completely disrupted with the loss of my job. 2008 became about the search and the adjustment to unemployment and consulting life. Early in 2009, we made the decision to take a job in California and try to make a life there. The blog in 2009 documented the moving process and the transition to a new way of life.

There wasn’t really a story in 2010. We continued to rent a home in California. Rachel got some part-time work that was out of her field (and paid not that well, to boot). Ellen’s behavior problems posed real challenges in preschool and kindergarten. We felt that we were getting by but not really settling in or making a future. And, as the economic news continued to be bad, it didn’t seem like there was any change to the new status quo coming. 

Our family aspirations are pretty boring – stability, a nice home, friends, family, health, good jobs. Since I was let go from my job in 2008, we haven’t had all of that. We’ve made it through each crisis, but it’s felt like we have been in survival mode for a long, long time. 

There wasn’t much I felt the need to photograph. Routine is boring – get up, go to work, come home, sleep. I wasn’t about to start a running log of my lunches. If Rachel had been able to find a good job in her field, that would have shaken things up, and we would have started planning for the future. But our hope for that outcome was dimming. I figured I’d eventually finish uploading pictures from 2010, write a wrap-up post, and let the photoblog end.

Then, well, this opportunity came along …

Keep reading. 2011 is NOT more of the same!