This is called year view on iCal. They describe the colors as a heat map. I suppose it is a quick way to look at your year and see if a date is open, which days, weeks or seasons of life will be busier than others. 2011 was a big year for us as a family, mostly because our life was changed in infinitely amazing ways related to having our first daughter Charlotte, maybe you've heard of her.
I've got a little bit of rain man in me so it is fun for me to look back over this heat map and remember what some of those red days were and how I was traveling or working all day long. The orange days were a little less busy, yellow was just one or two things and white means I had exactly nothing on my calendar for that day. Now before you go and judging me, this is a shared calendar so it includes more than just work related appointments. Like that yellow week of July 17th for instance. That was our first big family vacation! It's fun to think about last year. What we accomplished, what we experienced, the trips we took and on and on. Which leads me to this...
This is 2012's heat map. Not so hot yet, but it will be...but in a good way. Red days mean I'm living life and white days mean I'm resting. I'm excited to see how this year fills up. Not just for busy-sake, but for the sake of living. I will turn 30 this year (and so will Melissa). We always joke about how we'll never grow up and how we'll be old and still acting like the 15 year olds we were when we first met. Life is way to short to not enjoy it. Charlotte will turn one this year and I can't even describe how excited I am so see how she grows and changes over the next 12 months.
So look back over 2011. What did you accomplish? How many red days did you have? How many white days did you have? Were you present with your family and friends? Did you make your days count?
My dad has a phrase, like all dads do I guess. But one of his phrases says, "Every day is a holiday and every meal is a feast." I hope you have that kind of a year. Sure, have red days, but make sure you carve out some white days too.
-jay