How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets?
In midnights, in cups of coffee?
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
How do you measure, a year in the life?
One of my favorite songs is "Seasons of Love" from the musical, Rent. It is a full ensemble piece where the characters wax philosophic about how best to measure the worth of a year of human life, concluding in the chorus that the best way is to measure in love.
And it was exactly one year ago today, that I took the first photos of this project. While my initial goal for the project was to use it as a means of establishing a better work-life balance, I now understand that it wasn't just about spending time on a hobby... it was about identifying, appreciating, and chasing the love for my life.
First and foremost, I have developed a better and stronger sense of self. It sounds ridiculous, but prior to this project, I didn't really know what makes me deep-down, bottom of the gut, happy. I think I was a little hesitant to even admit that, because it seems like something that should be straightforward - do what you like to do. People told me to balance my life with work, but I didn't really know what interests, passions, etc. truly made up my life. This project resulted in first discovering what was important to me in life, followed by a dogged pursuit of these things as opposed to just blindly following societal prescriptions of things that "should" make me happy. Over the past year, I've witnessed many of my millennial peers also struggling with this concept, but many of them responded by completely shifting their lives 180 degrees. Many quit their jobs to travel the world or switched careers or went back to school to begin at the beginning once more. While those courses of action may work well for them, I knew that I would not be satisfied making a drastic change for the fear that it wasn't the right change. Given my highly analytical nature and habits of frequent reflection, that little niggle of fear would get in the way of actually embracing the change and finding myself. Not to mention, that would have been me throwing myself into yet another passion rather than learning to establish a balance.
Through this project, I've also validated my love for travel, adventure, friendship, and continual desire to learn. I've explored a lot of places, traveled locally and afar, visited best friends... all with an eye to capture photographs. As a result, I was able to satisfy my curiosity about the world. My favorite big trip was probably the one I took out to Kentucky to explore the Bourbon Trail, because I'm not sure I would have traveled there if not to photograph the distilleries and scenery. There was also something about this specific trip (I'm still not entirely sure exactly what clicked) that helped finally kickstart my journey for even more formal education. While I've always thought that I would go back for a higher degree of some kind, I hadn't formalized any kind of specific timeline or action plan. When I returned from Louisville, it all suddenly became very clear exactly what I wanted. In the following 6 months, I took the GMAT, networked like crazy, toured several schools, and put pen to paper for personal statements and applications. At the end of February, I celebrated and accepted admission to UCLA Anderson's Fully Employed MBA program. Even though most people shy away from their lives being driven entirely by work and school, I'm exhilarated to not only learn more business theory, but also to be able to apply this knowledge immediately the next day - this is exactly how I love to learn.
Finally, as cheesy as it sounds, I've also found romantic love via this project. While I didn't meet my boyfriend on a project excursion, his support of my project and desire to help me reach 10,000 hours resulted in planning and going on a lot of adventures together, during which we were able to get to know each other on a much more honest and intimate level than typical dates would allow. You really get to see someone's true nature when you're challenging each other's comfort zones: driving along the switchbacks of sheer cliffs, getting up at the crack of dawn to catch a moment, and getting increasingly hungry, hot, and sweaty in the name of one more shot. We have a connection and closeness that is just best expressed as true love.
So, I suppose you could say that the last 525,600 minutes of this 10,000 hour project have been filled with love... for photography, travel, exploration, good friends, learning, romance, and work. It's ultimately been a journey of finding out precisely what I love and weaving those elements meaningfully to create a life full of love.
Since this is a 10,000 hour project on photography, I'll end with the photos I took this morning successfully summiting Mt. Lee and standing over the Hollywood sign. After 2 hours, ~3.25 miles, and ~1700 vertical feet, we were rewarded with a view that perfectly captures my feeling about the last year of this project.
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| ~10 minutes into the Bronson Canyon Trail, encouraged by a glimpse of Hollywood Sign up in the hills |
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| The top of the canyon, roughly halfway to the sign. The overcast day resulted in hazy, flat photos that had to be edited heavily in post, but it was perfect for novice hikers like us tackling a ~6.5 mile hike that also climbed 1100+ feet vertically over the course. If it had been a clear and hot day, I'm not sure we would have reached the top. |
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| Getting closer! |
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| Reached a vista point and spotted the Griffith Observatory |
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| The trail wound back and forth around and around... we spent a solid 2 hours climbing (and occasionally stopping for photos and to catch our breath) from the start of the trail. |
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| The sign itself is fenced off due to the fire-prone terrain... and probably to prevent vandalism. Fortunately, the trail proceeds even higher so you can get a clear shot of the back of the sign without a chain link fence in the way. |
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| View of Lake Hollywood and part of the H from the summit |
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| Panorama I actually took with my iPhone. I couldn't get the entire sign with the DSLR and I couldn't back up further since there was only roughly 20 feet to work with before I would have fallen off the backside of the summit. |
Active Shooting Hours: 2
Review Hours: 2
Hours to Date: 142
