My cousin's wedding in Sydney, nearly two years of living in Seoul, my first overseas journey to South America, dancing in Germany, snorkeling in Thailand, Christmases, my 21st Birthday, family camping trips, first vacations along the coast of Jbay with my boyfriend, performing arts outreach in Hawaii and Europe, the garden of Gethsemane and so much more. These are but a fraction of the precious albums of photography I've lost to theft. Not just photographs, but memories and snapshots of a time and place I never return to.
I live in South Africa so crime is no surprise. My house has been robbed before and way more things were stolen and our privacy invaded. But this time they stole my laptop and hard drive ( still plugged into my laptop). Not clever on my part to attach the backup to the laptop, but I didn't think that at 1pm on a Wednesday my front door would be kicked down and my digital 'life' stolen. I would've preferred that they (scum of the earth) had stolen anything and everything else in my room and left my photos. The thought that year and years of wonderful pics will be erased and serve only to secure one fix of drugs kills me and left me in bed with an emotional breakdown and my brother having to watch Gossip Girl with me to demonstrate just how messed up other people's ( even if they're just actors) lives are.
Since then, I've had thoughts ranging from sadness, frustration, anger and bitterness. I've entertained thoughts of taking up kung-fu training, purchasing a weapon of some sort and leaving everything to travel again and capture more memories. But this of course would all prove futile, I will never get those photos back but I'll always have the memories ( until old age kicks in).
All there is to do is carry on living each day to the fullest and enjoying the wonderful moments life has to offer. Yes, there is alot of crime, crap and people will continue to steal, but there are so many more people really trying to make a difference and doing things to uplift the lives of others. So that's what I shall focus on, that and the fact that I'll backup, backup, backup and hide the devices in multiple locations. The people I love most were not home or harmed and for that I will be eternally grateful.