A big thank you to Megan for introducing me to Chelsea Hodson's Inventory, a blog chronicling the writer's attempt to catalog every one of her possessions. She posts photos of each item alongside a short reflection or a quote. As shown below, for example, there's a tube of illuminator, a copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's, a hairbrush, riding pants.
Of the pants, Chelsea writes: "This path will lead us home, I say. What path? You say. This path, I say, taking your hand & pointing it to the left.There is no path but I'd like for you to believe in something right now. If I can keep you believing then I can keep neglecting my faith, I can keep dragging it on a leash, we never have to go home."
As a writer, I love this idea as a form of daily practice. "When I moved back to Brooklyn from Los Angeles earlier this year, I thought, why not make a list of every single thing I'm taking with me?" Chelsea tells The Missouri Review. "Writing about each item seemed like a good opportunity for an exercise: I put something online every day no matter what. Even if I can't write well that day, it's just about completing the list I started."
Additional inventories:
-What Did You Buy Today?
-A self-portrait a day.
-Finishing salts and heirloom cowpeas: pantry staples of top foodies.
Marvelous! What beautiful words.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting visual journal documentation idea!
ReplyDeleteThis of course appeals to me! It's a wonderful cataloging experiment. :)
ReplyDeleteSuper awesome! I would love to do something similar. If only I had the time! :/
ReplyDeletelovely and so smart.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, I knew you'd like it!
ReplyDeleteI love her reflections on each object. I've often thought about doing something like this, but with my shoes and books (both of which I have way too many of). This is some good inspiration...
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about setting myself more stringent everyday goals, just so I don't have that excuse of "I'm not feeling it today" :P
ReplyDeleteKathy, do it! I would love to read that!
ReplyDelete