1 Second Everyday: 2022

Normally, around this time of year, I post my completed 1 Second Everyday for the year, showcasing through video some of the things I did over the year, the places I visited, and invariably, food eaten/games played/books read et al.

This year was a little different. After struggling with this project over the pandemic, I bounced back, but in 2022 I found myself too busy to continue with it. I started a new job in January which had a heavy -though ultimately rewarding!- workload, and any leftover creative energy was always spent preparing for Lego fanshows and meet ups.

So… this year’s video only runs from January to June. Gaps began to appear in March, April is very incomplete, and by July…I just completely stopped work on it. Ultimately, four years in to the project, i’m not sure what else there is to cover, or crucially, how else to present it- it’s something I may revisit in the future. For now however, 1 Second Everyday: 2022.

1 Second Everyday: 2021

Between government and professional incompetence, along with a few mental health bumps as a result, I found 2021 a lot harder than 2020. Restrictions, lockdowns, and social distancing continued to hurt quite a bit, but I continued on with my 1 Second Everyday project all the same. 2021 is now complete! Here’s the video!

There were a few points where I wanted to stop doing this, but looking back at the quick cuts along the year i’m incredibly thankful that I continued with it. I enjoy watching these immensely and it’s always rewarding rediscovering those smaller, happier, close-up moments of the year at large.

Work on the 2022 video starts today!

1 Second Everyday : 2020

As with 2019 last year, this year I continued my 1 Second Everyday project, recording upto, during, after, and again throughout all the nastiness that the year provided. I slipped up and missed a few days this year and things weren’t always ‘filmable’ but I’m mostly happy with the finished result. 2020 was quite a varied year with lots of challenges globally, culturally, and personally, so filming everyday when I was in the house not actually doing anything or seeing anyone meant making the video was a lot harder than it would’ve been any other year. That’s probably the point; there’s a notable tonal change around April, but looking back I’m amazed at all the things I did, and places I went and everything else, so I’m glad I kept the project going. Here it is below!

1 Second Everyday: Two Years Later

As of this month i’ve now been filming -and sharing!- my 1 Second Everyday for two whole years! I never quite expected the project to get so far- I started using the app almost randomly and only expected to get one month or so out of it, but making these videos is something I now rely on daily. These last few months have been quite difficult but i’ve still enjoyed putting the videos together, so maybe i’ll just do this forever? Here is the video for June 2020- as ever i’ll be stiching all the months together at year end to make something bigger.

(Did you know embedding Instagram content -and videos!- on Squarespace are a lot harder than necessary? Today I found out they are)

June was a month of distancing, double birthdays, and doing #1secondeveryday for two whole years. Click for sound!

Edinburgh 2020 #lastnormalvideo

With UK Lockdown still (mostly) in effect and Covid_19 still being a force throughout the world, the BBC recently encouraged it’s readers and viewers to send them their last normal photo. A #lastnormalphoto hashtag was born and a trend was soon in full effect, with plenty of people contributing their own memories.

In March earlier this year my fiancée (!) and I were in Edinburgh a week before things realy started happening in the UK, and there was no real sense of impending change whatsoever. It was still a problem countries away, or so our government treated it. Our trip away was travelling on public transport, having brunch out, seeing alt-rock band ‘Trail of Dead live in very crowded venue, and visiting museums and galleries. Pretty fun, normal stuff, and a great means of celebrating our newly engagement.

I recorded lots of the trip while we were away, more for recollection than anything else, but ive made a big video of it all and uploaded it over on my YouTube channel. It’s only two months ago, but with all the recent changes it now feels so much longer. It’s happy memories, but it’s sad too, with everything that’s happened since. Most of all, it’s baffling seeing big spaces and groups of people together that we presumably wont see again for a while. Strange times indeed.

1 Second Everyday : 2019

2019 was pretty great. I listed some of the good and bad things about the year, and throughout the last 12 months I continued my 1 Second Everyday.

Using the app is now something that’s pretty much autonomous in my life- filming/recording each day is just a given. For as much enjoyment as I get out of making the video however, the greater delight is watching it afterwards, and seeing everything that’s happened.

The same is true here, where there is no way i’d have remembered nearly as much of the year as I would’ve without documenting it like this. The app and project have been a great way of identifying the smaller moments, scenes, and events of my life, and piecing them together like the patchwork of smaller moments -that life in itself is- has been incredibly rewarding. Equally fulfilling has been friends and family saying they look forward to seeing each completed month on Instagram- sometimes i’m invariably looking too closely at these seconds so its great to hear things like that.

As with last time i’ve uploaded the full video over on YouTube- any likes, comments or subscribes would be greatly appreciated!

1 Second Everyday : The First Seven Months! (2018)

Beginning in June 2018 I started using an app called 1SE to record a second of my life everyday. Piecing them all together made a slideshow carousel of all the small moments that made each month- here’s the completed project for 2018.

It’s something that I enjoyed doing immensely, encouraging me to plan days a little better, do things a bit more out of the ordinary and most of all, reflect on everything that I had completed/achieved or experienced over any given time period. Very rewarding! The video was part documentary/part vloggy, and part art-project, with lots of stuff covered.

So from June 1st 2018 to December 31st 2018, here’s my first year using the app. I’m hoping to keep doing this as long as I can- any likes or subscribes would be greatly appreciated!

We went to Amsterdam for a long weekend in September 2017. Here's the work-safe cut with lots of tourist/art/dog footage. Will hopefully be going back again at some point to explore a bit more of the country (and for longer!)- definitely one of the best places i've ever been to.

After months of meaning to, here’s the work-safe cut of our Amsterdam trip from 2017 with lots of tourist/gallery/dog footage. It was all shot on my now deceased iPhone 6S, but this is something I enjoyed making so I *might* look into doing more of this kinda thing with better means/editing at a later date.

It’s on a shiny new -but sadly empty- YouTube channel, so any likes/subscribes there would be greatly appreciated.