Prototype Your Life | Year of Living Lovely

pro·to·type

When you make a prototype, you try something new. If it doesn’t work, you use what you learned to start again, building off of your previous attempt. It was through life prototyping that I learned the skills to be a better photographer, that I am a better wedding photographer when I work solo, that I am happier living in New England, and that I do my best work when I embrace my introverted nature. Everything that I have learned over the past several years in my personal life, in work, and in love, has been through trying new things and building off of those experiences. 

Then why was I so afraid to start over again? 

In my mind, I had failed. I chose the wrong path. Would making another change set me back or set me up for the better? 

But then again, every good thing in my life had come from simply going for it. It was time for a do-over. I needed to take what I learned and start anew. I had done it before and I could do it again. What I have learned is that with every redo, I have gained momentum towards the direction I wanted to be going. 

I had previously moved to a bigger apartment, but it was not working for us, so Matthew and I downsized to a smaller studio loft. Working full-time for someone else in a job that had a toxic environment was doing a number on my self-esteem, my health, and my happiness. I needed to quit. This time, working part-time as I put in more effort into my own business. I knew that I loved writing as much as I love photography, so I jumped into blogging. I became a minimalist (or rather, a semi-minimalist) to take control of my financial destiny, the stressful clutter in my life, in order to travel more, and to have more time for what I wanted in my life. I knew that I was feeling lonely and isolated, so I made more of an effort into seeing and speaking with good friends. All the changes I made seemed so sudden, especially because I implemented most of them all at once, but in reality, they were the product of the past few years of prototyping; figuring out what worked and what did not. 

Even now, I am reevaluating, trying new things, and building off of those prototypes. 

To prototype your own life, take note of the changes you have made in the past to get to where you are today at home, at work, at love, and at life. What worked? What did not? Now, list what you can try differently. Sometimes these changes can be small like getting more sleep. Other changes may be larger like quitting a job or moving to a new place. Life is all about trial and error in order to get it right. There are no true mistakes, only learning experiences. You simply have to keep trying. When you stop trying, that is when you get stuck. Try something new, and if it does not work, simply try again.