To being practical

Laptop Update: It turns out the motor in my hard drive died and the repair shop can't recover my data. There may be a way to recover it, but it seems complicated and expensive. So I started to question whether or not it was worth it. I knew most of my photos were backed up online. Funnily enough, I actually backed them up before going to Costa Rica, thinking that there was a decent chance my laptop would be stolen. Well, it went against the odds and died instead.

Unfortunately, everything since that point was not backed up, so I've lost a lot of photos from CR and HI :( BUT I still have the pics on my blog and all the ones on Facebook (reevaluating my shameful feelings of FB usage right now). Since I usually put my favorite ones online, I can't say I'm too bummed out about it. Besides, the memories remain pretty vivid in my mind, and much more spectacular. I lost all of my music, but I can always just download it all again.

But then there was my writing. All the secret conversations I had with myself as I moved to New York, created my life there, contemplated career changes, relationships, and just got to know myself better-those I would greatly miss. I thought maybe there was a chance I backed some of it up but was scared to find out. Well, this morning, I finally brought myself to look and was overjoyed with what I discovered-my entire diary was there! What a relief! I just felt so happy with myself, having been so responsible and practical for thinking to save those.

Now, while it may seem like I'm rambling or overdramatizing a seemingly minute success story, there is actually a valuable lesson that I've learned. And that is, it's important to be practical. I've never been a big fan of practicality or related well to the cautionary type. I'm a bit more of a whimsical, spontaneous, emotional, play-it-by-ear kind of gal, and becoming more so, it seems, as I get older (errrr, yeah, I think it's supposed to be the other way around). Or maybe I am a fairly practical person whose practicality is practically dwarfed by the super practical people in my life. Ha. I don't know.

What I do know is that, as I try to navigate the uncertainty that lies beyond this trip, I will remember that a healthy dose of practicality, and some prudent planning, can really pay off :)