There is a famous photograph taken by Robert Doisneau of a musician in the rain. Instead of holding the umbrella over himself, he chooses to hold the umbrella over his violoncello which is next to him in its case.
I've started recording my thoughts again, or should I say, I've started blogging.
This one, named after one of my favourite photos taken by Robert Doisneau, is not my first blog.
After reading a friend's account of a day at secondary school, a somewhat very ordinary day, describing who fell over, what they had for lunch and comically memorable remarks, suddenly the ordinary was very interesting to me. Is that what Robert Doisneau tried to embed into eternity? Is that what blogging does?
Robert Doisneau is one of my favourite photographers. He was famous for his black and white photography of ordinary Parisian life. He seemed to find a story in all backdrops of ordinary. He tried to make the ordinary memorable.
After reading that very ordinary account written by my friend, I decided to write my own. I challenged myself to write an account each day for a year, no one could read it except for my friends. I read some of my very early blogs and I see days where I lose motivation, because I was describing boredom, but I wanted to record everything. I didn't know why at first, but recording everything, everything ordinary was so that I could read it in the future and the ordinary wouldn't be so ordinary any more. I described first encounters with people, remembering names, how I felt. I remember walking home from school on many occasions and thinking what I should include in my blog. On particularly different and special days such as days out or birthdays, I would write extremely detailed blogs. Mainly because I wanted to remember them perfectly.
I met this challenge and wrote for almost 2 years. I still write now, when I want to vent or remember special days. Reading back on the day that I first met someone and how I felt about them and how I described them compared to how I feel about them being one of my closest friends today is one of the many interesting things you get from keeping a blog-diary. I read names of people that I do not remember meeting and things that I have vague recollection of happening.
In a way, keeping a diary or a blog is like taking a picture. That picture will last and the memory of that moment will last. Describing an event in an account, especially if you include your feelings and things you'll most likely forget will help the memory of that event last.
Robert Doisneau is one of my favourite photographers. He was famous for his black and white photography of ordinary Parisian life. He seemed to find a story in all backdrops of ordinary. He tried to make the ordinary memorable.
After reading that very ordinary account written by my friend, I decided to write my own. I challenged myself to write an account each day for a year, no one could read it except for my friends. I read some of my very early blogs and I see days where I lose motivation, because I was describing boredom, but I wanted to record everything. I didn't know why at first, but recording everything, everything ordinary was so that I could read it in the future and the ordinary wouldn't be so ordinary any more. I described first encounters with people, remembering names, how I felt. I remember walking home from school on many occasions and thinking what I should include in my blog. On particularly different and special days such as days out or birthdays, I would write extremely detailed blogs. Mainly because I wanted to remember them perfectly.
I met this challenge and wrote for almost 2 years. I still write now, when I want to vent or remember special days. Reading back on the day that I first met someone and how I felt about them and how I described them compared to how I feel about them being one of my closest friends today is one of the many interesting things you get from keeping a blog-diary. I read names of people that I do not remember meeting and things that I have vague recollection of happening.
In a way, keeping a diary or a blog is like taking a picture. That picture will last and the memory of that moment will last. Describing an event in an account, especially if you include your feelings and things you'll most likely forget will help the memory of that event last.
We keep diaries and blogs to record our thoughts. We record thoughts so they turn into our memories.
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