Last Week, Laura Tremaine hosted an Instagram challenge called #onedayhh (i.e. One Day, Hour by Hour). I was intrigued, so I participated, and it turned out to leave much more of a lasting impact on me than I ever imagined that it would.
Laura Tremaine is a blogger, and the host of the podcast 10 Things to Tell You, which is a little bit like therapy, and a little bit like talking to your best friend. I originally started following Laura on social for her book recommendations (she has never steered me wrong), and continued to do so because I fell in love with her podcast, and the little bits of wisdom she shares every week.
The purpose of #onedayhh, I believe, was to allow people to show their “everyday” lives, outside of the highlight reel that is our normal Instagram experience. I decided to participate, firstly, because I was bored, and secondly, because I was curious; curious if I could find something worthwhile to take a picture of, every single hour, on a regular Thursday at home with my two young children.
On the day of #onedayhh, October 22nd, 2020, I woke up at the crack of dawn with my one-year-old son, Max, and my 12-week-old puppy, Lemon. The first thing I did was snap a photo of my son smothering the puppy with a full-body hug. Normally, I really hate these early morning hours. Normally, I am a real monster until my coffee is brewed, and then I am only kind-of a monster until at least 7 A.M. Normally, I would never want photographic evidence of this time of day.
But that morning, I spent some time noticing the way Max leaned into Lemon with such loving vigor, and the way Lemon took it, like an absolute champ, and even craned her neck away from where her body was pinned to the cold, concrete floor to give Max some sweet, slobbery kisses in return.
For the rest of the day, I found myself really looking forward to the sound of my phone timer’s hourly ding. Every time a new hour rolled around, I gave myself permission to stop, and come to a real awareness of the current moment in time. I encouraged myself to look around me, and find something worth capturing, whether because it was beautiful, or because it represented the sometimes small, and oftentimes big, feelings we all experienced that day.
By the end of the day, I had pictures of my kids playing in the woods, napping in the stroller, reading at the park, and enjoying a grilled cheese at our dining room table. I also had pictures of my husband trying to pop Max’s dislocated elbow back into it’s socket, and Max passed out on my shoulder after an hour-long bout of refusing to let him do so.
It was a day of highs and lows, with some special chaos sprinkled on top of the regular kind, but as I looked back on those photos, both last week, and again today, I found myself smiling at every, single, one.
Most days, by the time bedtime rolls around, I am so tired and drained that I end up projecting my discontented exhaustion on the rest of the day. I oftentimes hyper-focus on the myriad of ways in which I didn’t live up to the standard I set for myself that morning, and make a mental check list of the things I will have to roll over to tomorrow’s to-do list.
But at the end of #onedayhh, I was able to look back on all of the little moments we experienced that day, and know just how much we really accomplished. I had a record of my kids exploring their environment, and learning how to play (and fight) with one another. I had evidence of my own care-taking abilities, and was reminded of all work I put in to keeping them happy, healthy, and fed throughout the day. I had pictures of my husband, doing his best to take control of a difficult, and somewhat scary situation. When I look back at those pictures, I can see the learning that took place, both in my kids, and myself.
In the end, this challenge reminded me that it’s not really about where I end up at the end of the day that matters. Instead, it’s about recognizing all the beautiful moments that happen in the “in between,” and accepting that the wins I had that day, might not be the ones I wanted, or expected. This challenge showed me that by leaning into the little moments, we can really start to recognize all the love, growth and good that is happening amidst the mess that is everything we are “trying” (and often failing) to do.
While Laura Tremaine’s challenge only formally happens once a year, I hope to continue to participate in my own version of #onedayhh at least once a month. I might share it publicly, and I might not, but I want to make sure I remind current self, and a create record for my future self, of all the truly great, albeit small, things we achieve every day, and the ways in which the simplest of efforts can end up meaning so, so much.
