I've always been impressed with my flickr friends who pull off the 365 Project. I like to think with habit, I kind of get a free pass on feeling guilty for never trying it. But at the same time, with habit, I'm not taking a picture every.single.day.

But at the start of this new year, I read this post at Chookooloonks about journaling. It was "a primer for those who'd like to start the practice in the new year." The post was inspiring to me. And after reading, the idea of it kept haunting me.

I have a five year journal which I love, (in theory). It sits beside my bed, and I attempt to write in it every night before sleep. I also attempt to keep a pen handy beside my bed. But between exhaustion, missing pens at the hand of little fingers, forgetfulness, and good books that I'm dying to dig into, that journal has been a bit neglected.

Habit is a testimony to the fact that I love marking time with just a few sentences. There's no pressure to write and write and write. That whole project has been so freeing. That a lot can be said with less.

But there is this strong part of me that is still very old-fashioned. Part of me, who wants to be better about putting pen to paper. I think we can all admit to thinking about the evidence of our lives that will be left behind when we are gone . Will my children and grandchildren log on to the internet to read about my life, my days, the things I made and baked, the lessons I've learned, the places I've visited, the animals I've raised, the people I've met?

Maybe so.

Maybe not.

So here I am. A new outlook and new inspiration on an old, time-honored art. An old-fashioned way of marking time.

I am taking on 365 this year, but for me, it will not be through the lens of my camera, but through the words that I put on the page.