I’ve never been one for cheesy sayings or inspirational quotes, but it wasn’t until I stopped playing an active role in my own life that a cheesy quote saved me. You have to be the main character in your own life. That was the phrase I saw on Pinterest one day that made me finally decide to download the 1 Second Everyday app from the app store.
The free version of the app is super simple: A calendar is the first thing that pops up when you open it up. Clicking on each day reveals the option to add an existing video you have or take a video straight from the app. The basis is taking a video that’s no longer than a second every single day and the app strings them all together for you into a longer video. Across the bottom is a date stamp showing each day of the month as you move through the videos one by one. You can keep the sound or mute it, and the Pro Version (which I still refuse to get as a “money saving” college student) allows for you to add music or work on collaborative projects. Of course if you miss a day or don’t find anything video worthy you can cheat and add clips from other days (totally guilty here), but the idea behind looking for something interesting to film everyday is exciting on its own.
It seems juvenile to only worry about a video that’s a single second in length. Social media started out as short snippets of video to grab the attention of viewers, and has gradually expanded into much larger projects being shared like reels on Instagram or longer clip times on TikTok. But the beauty of this app is that it’s not about the length of the project you’re making, it’s about how much creativity you can fit into a single second video. It also forced me to constantly be on the lookout for things to film in my everyday life.
I was terrified when I committed to my new artsy project that my reel would be nothing more than my homework, tennis practice, and maybe my walk to campus. But it was incredible just how many little things you notice on the lookout for art and entertainment. A puddle I would normally try to avoid is now a great opportunity for a cool reflection, and the Snapchat video of my friend throwing spaghetti at her wall to see if it will stick is now definitely a necessary snippet. At first I was upset with how little I ended up in any of my videos. I was so focused on the scenery around me and my friends doing funny, noteworthy things that I rarely appeared in any of my own clips. And yet, after watching it several times it made me realize that it was the world from my perspective. I didn’t have to be in all of the videos because I was the one that was in charge of what did and didn’t make the cut. It was from my POV and it truly forced me to be the main character in my own life.
In a world where everyone is so fixated on how to mimic the lives of celebrities or social media stars, it’s nice to have a platform that emphasizes the uniqueness of everybody’s individual lives. So cheesy or not, I finally do feel like my own main character, and hopefully when you get this app, so will you.