The Day My Laptop Crashed

It is one of those things you say will never happen to you. It only happens to other people.

It is the reason we all backup our pictures, but really, that is just a precaution, because like I said, it will never happen to me. 

And then the day comes when you turn on your computer, your trusted friend who has been there for you day and night, the one who got you through so many college papers, and they greet with you a black screen. Not the award-winning picture of a tiger you expect to see, just a black screen. No icons, nothing. 

Yes, this happened to me. 

I can't even begin to tell you how may times I tried turning the computer on and off. Taking out the battery and putting it back in, thinking surely this would fix the problem. To my dismay, nothing was working. The hard drive was gone. Ka-put. Nada. And my life was quickly spiraling out of control. How would I write? How would I edit all the photos I had uploaded from my camera?

Oh no, my photos? 

Wait. Yes. I had just done a full back up 3 days prior. My photos were safe.

This was almost three weeks ago. Three long weeks of limited social media and basically no photography. Sure, I could access Facebook and Twitter from my iPhone, but it just wasn't the same. I have a Chromebook, which I love, but it just isn't the same. Since it was the only working computer, Dylan pretty much had it all the time for his school work and games. I know, the sacrifices we make as parents are rough.

Ironically, after a week or so I wasn't really missing social media like I thought I would. I was actually enjoying the break. It was nice not to worry about deadlines and scheduled posts. Nice not to think about writers block or whether or not people would even read the post I was writing. The only problem was I really missed my photography. I missed seeing my pictures in Lightroom. It wasn't that I missed posting them to Facebook or sharing them on Twitter, what I missed was the photography itself. 

To me, photography is not a competition. It is not about being the first to get the shot. Photography is an art form - a creative outlet that has become part of me.   

Today my new computer arrived. The first new computer I have had since Dylan was born. Once the basics had been set up and the internet connection established, I had one very important thing to download. I felt a sense of joy come over me as I double-clicked that little icon. Lightroom was back. Oh, how I missed her. 

Moral of the story... the day my laptop crashed may have been a blessing in disguise. I learned that the art of photography itself is more important to me than sharing the pictures on social media. Sure, I love having people like my pictures, I would be lying if I said that I didn't, but there is so much more to life than how many likes a picture gets on Facebook. 

So friends, back up your photographs on an external hard drive ...

because this can happen to you.