Ever since Beth proposed the idea on her blog (which she explains here), I toyed with the idea of doing the diabetes 365 project. I had many reasons not to do it. I lost my camera, so I don't even have a camera of my own. It's a big commitment. I don't know what I'd photograph. I have a knack for leaving projects unfinished. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I don't have time. No one will be interested in my bland little photos of my D-Life. You know, the usual stuff I tell myself when I set out to do something or change my life in some way. Yet even I didn't totally believe myself.
This project seemed cool, worthy of my time, and a combination of a number of personal goals. I have many reasons to do it. Cool people I like and respect are doing it, like Beth, Bernard and Manny. Think along the lines of that peer pressure motto, "Everybody's doing it," but without any actual pressure, which was one of the selling points. Once I feel pressured, I tend to do rebel and do the opposite, so score another point for no pressure). In addition, it might help me stay focused on my goal of improving my diabetes control and thus, improving my everyday experiences living with diabetes. It could help capture some of my time here in Taiwan, albeit with a decidedly diabetic slant. It gives me a good excuse to justify buying a new camera, since I lost mine during my trip back to the States last month. It might help shed some more light on the daily struggles of life with type 1 diabetes and an added purpose to my blogging and photography. It might give one more person a little added push to fight for a cure. It'll make me feel like I'm doing a little something to raise diabetes awareness, for those in my own life, and others unknown to me.
So I'm doing it! I've started. I began a few days ago playing around with some images, trying to see if my Taiwanese friend's old digital camera could work as a temporary solution to the rather big obstacle I face of no longer owning a digital camera. It works. The images aren't crisp and incredibly clear, but they'll do the trick, and perhaps you can see the evolution of the photographs over time as my equipment improves. I don't know that I'll be uploading them every day, but perhaps I'll do a weekly post with the images from that week. Check out the current pool of photos on flickr, and consider joining the project. It's painless, and frankly, kinda cool.
Here are the rest of my photos from the last week. You can find more over at my blog, "Amazing Grace," or view my more detailed explanations and see the originals by clicking here. Thanks for your support!
