High Five Friday - June 1, 2012

Well, May disappeared.  In my last HFF post, I spoke of my impending move.  That happened twice.  I moved out of my apartment one weekend.  I then moved into a house with my boyfriend the next.  Two days after that, I flew off to Atlanta, Georgia for a week of fun** including a wedding in Highlands, North Carolina, hanging out with an ole college chum in Atlanta, seeing my cousin in Tennessee, my pseudo-in-laws in South Carolina, and the Cynical Girl in Raleigh.  I added the ** to fun because on the night of my arrival into Atlanta, all of my luggage except for my wallet, phone and the clothes on my back were stolen.  Needless to say, this altered the experience of my trip.

I am one of those pragmatic, optimistic, but occasionally cynical, people who is a fairly meticulous record keeper.  It must be all of those years in HR!  I woke up the next day scribbling down all the things I thought I had lost.  Truth be told, I actually kept remembering things for the next two weeks that I had in my bags.  The biggest and more painful things to lose were my Mac, my Canon 5D and my Canon S90, but I also lost some of my favorite clothes, shoes, my new favorite suitcase, and so on.  At that moment though, as I tried to determine my next move, I felt I had lost everything.  Seriously, losing all of your stuff at the beginning of a vacation can really alter one's mood.

However, after a day had passed, I remember one of the My CoolWorkers asked me how I felt about losing my camera, knowing that I LOVE taking photographs, and my response was "lighter."  It was true.  My camera (and lenses!) were heavy.  I now just had my phone to keep me in communication and document my world as I'm wont to do.  It was kind of freeing.

So the moral of this post is have insurance!

Okay, other morals.

Stuff is just stuff.  Stuff can be replaced.

People are always worth more than any item.

Attitude really can affect how one responds to any given situation.  I could have let this event ruin my trip, but instead I've got an amazing story, gratitude for my friends and family's support from "that sucks" comments to the giving of clothes for me to wear.

The mind's eye really is the best camera.

And, the best camera is the one that's with you (Chase Jarvis).  In this case, I made the best of it with my phone.

It's good to leave home once in a while and learn about the beauty in other places.  This also leads to learning how well you have it at home. :)

I'll close by saying that I'm so glad I got to take this trip and see a new part of the country.  I hope to return to the Blue Ridge Parkway someday and actually get to Great Smoky Mountains National Park - I was so close!  In reality though, like the sunscreen comment from that infamous fake graduation speech, trust me about having insurance.



Have a great weekend all!