The past always finds a way to come back to me, making itself a home within my thoughts. Some days, I find myself listening to old playlists of songs and pieces that remind me of an earlier time with a familiar feeling. I’m rarely present when I’m alone, finding myself reminiscing on memories from my childhood, thinking of what could’ve been, and dreaming of the future. While I can remember certain memories and the sensations that surround them, they’re always altered by my own perception, and I usually only remember the days where I felt the happiest or when I did something out of the ordinary. Hence, the idea of having a video that rewinds the memories that I want to experience again appealed deeply to me.
In the snug and snowy days of December 2017, I scrolled through my YouTube recommendations feed in the search for an end-of-the-year recap video that could delicately frame what the year was from someone else’s perspective. That’s when I came across Cesar Kuriyama’s TED Talk. Kuriyama, the founder of the 1SE: Your Video Diary app, talked about his project and how recording one second every day made him step out and try to make the most out of his life (squeezing the last juice out of the lemon, if you will). I was feeling quite down and uninspired at that moment, so I thought, hey, why not try this out?
So, I navigated the App Store on my phone and downloaded the 1SE: Your Video Diary application. Start on January 1st, I told myself. Start the year with something new, you know? On the first day of 2018, I recorded a video of my family clinking our glasses of sparkling apple cider together in celebration of the new year. Not too complicated, I thought. Taking that one-second video continued onto many more, and today in 2021, I am still recording snippets of my day to add to the ever-growing video.
Some lessons that I learned from this journey so far:
- There is so much to be grateful for. Whether it be the single raindrop sliding down the windowpane or the clip from the Taylor Swift concert, recording it allows you to appreciate it so much more later. The small things become more significant, and each day feels as special as the last since they all get the same time value of one second.
- You’ll get more out of life when you’re present in the moment. In the age of technology, our phones are the cameras that can document our entire life. However, watching a concert through your phone is not the same as watching it live with your closest friends by your side. Nevertheless, we still want to remember that day for when we look back on our lives years later, which is why this project is perfect: not only do you record a memory that serves as a cue for future reflection, but you also spend just a few seconds recording it and live the rest in the present. If you don’t open your eyes to the present, you’ll miss the important things.
- Recording one second every day inspires you to live life to the fullest. As Annie Dillard put it, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Knowing that each second is equal in that the seemingly mundane days hold the same time value as a jam-packed, event-filled, unusual day encourages us to look for the beauty in each moment and to put 100% into living our lives to the fullest.
- Life is cyclical. There will always be ups and downs, and recording this project allows us to document our ups and downs. When we look back on our video, we realize that the past isn’t always flowers and rainbows and that there were days where we felt down in the past. We see our growth and understand that eventually, we find a way to feel better again. Looking back at our previous days, we realize that we had the strength to power through the bad days, and so we have the strength to face the challenges in front of us now. Understanding that life is cyclical allows us to remember the past more accurately while knowing that we have the strength to get through some of the difficult times that life throws at us.
I’ve learned so much from these past three years of recording a second of my life every day. Some of these lessons I find difficult to put into words, so I implore you to try this out yourself. It’s a simple, not too time-consuming project that allows you to look back at your life in video form. As a visual diary that only takes a few seconds of your day to fill in, there’s no requirement to start at the beginning of a month or year. So go out today and start recording a second from your life every day!