I’ve been working out loud since 2016 using daily video stories to show and share the in-moment work and learning I’m doing and in recent times, I’ve just realised how valuable these have been not only to record my daily existence but also for my mental health and well being.
You can see them all here on my YouTube channel.
In effect, it’s been an alternative to blogging when I didn’t have the time to sit down and tap out some words on this blog, it was far easier to pick up the phone and take photo or video footage of the in-moment activities and thinking at the time.
In a way, it’s as if I have captured that single moment of time. For now, I have been capturing more of what I have been doing, working and learning on during this coronavirus crisis.
I have written before how I love to see and re-experience the emotions of things I’ve done in the past.
Remember those “On this Day in History” you learn about what happened in history on this day? Well I have collected videos since 2016 that I can look back at and recall what I was doing that day. Facebook has the Memories function which also brings up what you posted; and I guess you can do the same with Twitter using the Advanced Search function if you’re that way inclined.
However, there is something about using tools like Snapchat (what I used to start out with) and now Instagram Live Stories that allows for people to do this and create little daily stories of their lives.
As I share these on Instagram, the more I realise that these stories are really for myself.
It was Euan Semple who once said, “we write ourselves into existence” meaning that these tools allow for our voice and thoughts to be expressed. In some way, I feel that my daily videos are doing just that.
I’m creating something on a daily basis to say…
“I’m here. I was here”.
Revisiting these stories are wonderful – even far richer and way more emotional than looking at a photo album.
I relive the emotions and feelings. This time last year, I was enjoying my birthday on a cruise ship in Hawaii off the coast of Maui and as I watched and relived the video I made for the day, everything came back to me such as the taste of the cake; the smell of the coconut on the cake; the flicker of the candles at dinner; the French people at the nearby table; what I ate; how it tasted and the conversation with the waitress.
Why? I had captured it all – and even if I didn’t capture it on camera, the memory of it still remains stronger than if I hadn’t captured it at all on video.
Doing this at this time of self-isolation has been one of the ways to capture my thoughts, reflections, work and learning that I will look back on. If I’m entirely honest with myself, these daily videos have been so good for me that it would be hard to stop. I’m not sharing these for getting an audience nor engaging in conversations with people. I have noticed some people who watch my stories but on the whole, people hardly – if ever – engage in them unless something of value stands out to them. That’s okay and I’m glad that they may help them in some little way.
If you want to see how you can create stories creatively then check out Xanthe on Instagram her stories give you an idea of the power of daily story making and creating.
However, it need not be like that – best thing you can do is to pick up your phone, take a photo or a video – and then turn the camera to yourself and have a conversation with yourself. It’s not hard.
