Chris and I were at brunch today with my friend/former colleague and her husband, and we were telling them about how we use the One Second Every Day app as one way to document our lives. The app allows us to capture one second of every day and then mash them all together to create a single video. My friend’s husband was so impressed by the idea of it and my sample October video (since I break them up by month) that he downloaded the app on the spot and started playing around with it. “Wow, you guys are really documenting everything!” my friend exclaimed. We told them about this app after I mentioned I was creating a hard copy scrapbook of places we’ve been and things we’ve done together since the beginning of our relationship.

I thought about it for a while after we parted ways that afternoon. We spend so much of our time wanting to capture the “big” moments — births, graduations, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, holidays with family and friends, but as a society it just seems like we don’t spend enough time thinking about the real moments that make up our everyday life. Sure, those big life events are important, but how can we belittle what makes up the bulk of our lives? We get all excited and look forward to these big moments, but it’s almost to the detriment of the everyday — your *real* life. People don’t really seem to care so much when you are sharing a snapshot of what you did yesterday, but those moments are actually the majority of what make up your life and what your life is really about. Every day isn’t super exciting — it’s true. On Thursday, going to the dentist wasn’t fun or memorable, but it’s part of my life. It’s not always going to be glamorous or fun, and not everyone is going to be smiling or happy or posing with a champagne glass. But this is what life is — the everyday moments. And we shouldn’t forget that. This app is a reminder to me for this.