Have you heard about Week in the Life? If not, it is a fun project that takes a deep dive into a week in your life. This is a concept developed by Ali Edwards. You can go to her website and click on “Blog” and then go to the “filter by” where you can look up the Week in the Life tag and all her blog posts over the years on the subject will be there. She also has a self-paced class you can purchase where you can see all her albums all the way back to when she began, tips and tricks, various ways to approach the project, and some other contributors talking about their albums and approaches to this weeklong project. She also has a YouTube channel and an Instagram account where you can see a lot of her stuff.
You don’t need anything special to do the project. Ali provides physical and digital products in her shop that are geared towards the project, but you do not have to have them to do it. You can do it in any size album you would like or even a digital book. Each year Ali has a specific week that she does the project and the community is welcome to do it at the same time. This year it is the week of April 22, 2024, but you can do it any week you like.
Below is a video of an unboxing of the products I purchased this year. I also have a video of a previous year's album walk-thru. You can do searches on YouTube and on Instagram (IG) for Week in the Life or Ali Edwards Week in the Life and find many great people who do album walk-thru's and process videos where you can get a lot of great inspiration and ideas.
I do want to address something though. Another YouTuber had
a comment that she addressed where someone had asked something to the effect of
‘If you live alone what do you have to document’? I have not had that question
on a social media platform, but I have had that question in person. So, for all
of you out there, it doesn’t matter your living situation…your story matters!
Document it, have fun with it, and enjoy the process. I have lived alone with
my fur babies for many years now. My children do not live very close by. But I
have documented this project for quite a few years now and let me tell you, it
is fun to look back at how things have changed and how things have remained the
same. I will tell you this, for years now, I wish that my grandparents had done
something like this so that I could get a glimpse into what their lives were
like. How different things were for them, what their chores were like, what
they did to pass the time, things they liked to do, or things they didn’t like
to do. So, if you are hesitant, just jump in and give it a go. You don’t have to
do it like everyone else…just do it how you want.
But don’t know what you can document? Below are some photo and journaling ideas and lenses for your project. This is not an all-inclusive list by any means just a jumping-off point to help you get started.
- A picture of your outfit each day
- Picture of the front-page news (you can get a picture of many newspapers across the US, not sure about other countries, from the Front Pages app. Warning; they are only on the app for that day so each day it changes to the current day. There is no archive so make sure you download it each day.
- Your everyday chores and routines
- Home life / Work life
- Things in your purse, car, tote bag, trunk, desk drawer, junk drawer, nightstand, refrigerator, etc. (amazing how those things change over the years.)
- Gratitude / What you are thankful for
- Your work, hobbies, organizations you belong to, etc.
- The ups and downs; highs and lows
- Facts and Feelings of each day
- The weather each day
- Bits and pieces of stuff: mail, bills, receipts, tags from items purchased or from your favorite brands, average prices at the time, etc.
- Your meals
- Your makeup, medicine/vitamins, items you use to get ready every morning, or getting ready for bed each night.
- Exercising
- Screenshots of what's on your phone: games you are playing, text message conversations, shopping apps, etc.
- Favorite restaurants, stores, etc.
- Mondays are for...(insert the day of the week). An example: Saturdays are for chores and shopping but go into more detail.
- Things you like to collect.
- Most days / Some days
- Today I...Today You...Today We
- Your views: both physical and mental...some examples are:
- Your view at lunch
- Your view looking into your office or out of your office
- Your view of where you stand: Looking up, looking down (great way to get your clothes and shoes)
- Your view on a particular subject or something in the news
- Your observations
- Finding opportunities to insert other people's voices. An example would be to tell something that someone said that was funny or maybe thought-provoking.
- Your struggles and your growth
- Nature, wildlife, and pets
- Your goals, hopes, and dreams
- Are you a morning person or a night person? Has that changed for you over the years? What about others in your family?
- A Google map printout with all the places you went flagged for the day or for the whole week.
- The messiness or imperfections of your week
- Take a picture of yourself doing everyday activities like getting the mail, doing the laundry, etc. A good idea is to put a timer on your phone camera and set it up to take a picture of yourself. You can also put your phone in the washer as you are putting the dirty clothes in it to get a different view. Just make sure to take it back out...LOL. You can do the same thing with putting the clothes in the dryer or getting the mail out of the mailbox. Endless possibilities. You can get some good examples of this from Amber Dawson's YouTube or IG channels.
- Your to-do lists
- By the numbers (either by the day or for the week in total or even both - this can take a bit of work but it is fun to see what you come up with): some examples would be how many cups of coffee/tea you have had, how many steps you've taken, how many emails you received or answered, how many text messages, how many shows you've watched, how many miles you have driven, etc. Just have some fun coming up with things to track.
- Journal about the pictures you didn't take but you have a story to tell.
- Humor in the chaos
- Pictures of your shopping cart or trunk with your purchases
- Your friends and family
- Other Lenses:
- On my desk
- In the dark
- On my plate
- My stuff
- His/Her/Their stuff
- On the couch
- In the yard
- In the mirror
- At work
- My people
- On the table
- This mess
- At play
- At rest
- 'ING' words;
- Reading
- Loving
- Eating
- Learning
- Making
- Listening
- Watching
- Laughing
Below is the YouTube video of a previous year's album that I completed. If you have never done this project before, I hope you give it a go and if you have some ideas to add to the list drop me a comment and let's share our ideas.
Happy Scrapping!
