With a new year come new resolutions made in the hopes of making oneself become more… active. Be it in mind, body or soul, I bet more than one of you had decided that this was the year you would do a 365 challenge. It is a long, long challenge. I should know, I completed one with Sophie a while ago, and failed one with Eden. 365 challenges seem simple enough – take a photo of something or someone every day for the duration of a year. 365 photos, the commitment to both take a photo and to upload a photo. That’s where I fell behind a bit. And then more. And more. And more. Because it is a commitment and I think that anyone who makes it to 365 is awesome, amazing and kinda an inspiration. Even if all you do is take photos of your Blythe with your textbooks while you’re busy studying, you still took a photo and shared it with the world. I used that as an example because I took many photos of my Blythes with textbooks. And homework. And possibly even a few with my stethoscope when it was new and shiny to me.

365 photo challenges are hard. But there are a lot of options out there! There are some challenges where you take photos of the same thing every day (like 365 Days Blythe) and others where it’s okay to change things up (such as Kenner 365). If daily photos aren’t your thing, there are weekly challenges available too, like 52 Weeks of Kenner Blythe. Much like a marathon, the difficulty doesn’t lie in the beginning, but in middle and end. When I started my 365 project with Eden, I was very energetic about it, very eager to do it right and actually upload photos on time. Then I fell behind on uploading, then taking photos, then finally admitting that I was out. The beginning is easy. It’s when you have the notion of taking on such a task to begin with and you don’t realize the effort that it takes to perform such a long-term project until you’re further in.

No matter what photography challenge you decide to undertake, remember that it is an impressive feat no matter how far you end up. And also remember that it’s okay when other priorities in life take over – nobody’s going to be any less impressed with how far you’ve come when it comes down to it. Life comes first, a photo a day can wait.

If you’ve been participating in a 365 project this year, and you started on January 1st, you’d be on photo number 305 of 365 today. When I was doing 365 (the first time around), it was hard to be creative past the first fifty photos. And even harder after 100, and every subsequent photo after that. By the time I got to 365, I was over taking photos and I didn’t really take any pictures of my dolls for the month or so after that. So for all those lovely people on photo 305 or even photo 30, here are some photo ideas for you:

1. Have your doll take a “selfie” – bonus for having it at an odd angle (e.g. up the nose!) and blurry, like real selfies.
2. Your girl with the top 15 clothing items or shoes that she wears.
3. Dolly + Me photo
4. Your doll with her very own cell phone, texting her dolly BFF.
5. Have a coffee or dessert date with you and your doll.
6. Have your doll sewing her own outfits for a change.
7. Carefully balance her on top of your cat or dog (and hope they stay still with the promise of a treat!).
8. Give your doll their own pet (I have a doll who would recommend a pocket T-rex as the ‘perfect pet’).
9. Doll up your 365 girl in a red carpet-worthy dress.
10. Take a photo of her reading her favourite Blythe blog!

I started 365 with the best of intentions, I really did. But somewhere along the way (in part due to school, and laziness), I fell behind in uploading photos. And then I’d get caught up for a little bit, only to fall behind again. And then April happened, and I was so busy with other things (e.g. studying and preparing for finals) that I fell behind again. And then finals week occurred and I uploaded nothing.

Did I really want to continue the cycle of getting behind, catching up, getting behind and catching up yet again? I decided I didn’t want to. I love taking photos of my dolls, and I do love taking photos of Eden (because, let’s face it, pink look great on her!) but uploading photos was becoming a chore. And I just wasn’t having fun anymore with it. 365 is meant to be challenge, but it shouldn’t become a chore and it should be fun and it wasn’t anymore.

So from now on – no more feeling bad about not uploading photos because I shouldn’t feel bad about it! I’m going to continue taking photos of Eden Mouse, and all of my other dolls, on a schedule that I decide for myself. As hard as it was to make this decision, I know it’s the right one. I barely got through March even with a week-long break in the term because of all the coursework and studying that I had to do for school. And while I’m “only” taking distance ed courses this summer, I just know that I wouldn’t be able to make the time to do 365 as well as keeping up (or even getting ahead) in my studies and my education is always going to be a priority over 365 (no matter how much I love Blythe). And you know what? This decision feels great. It’s one less stress in my life – and that is wonderful.

I have been documenting my process throughout 365 with Eden Mouse this year. I’m behind on uploading for April 2013, but here are some of my photos for the month – starting with what Eden wore for April 1st:

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365 is a marathon, not a sprint. I sometimes fall behind with uploading photos – it’s enough to remember to take a photo! Here is a small selection of photos of Eden Mouse for March 2013…

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