Lucky

In a very unneeded turn of events, our place was robbed this weekend while we away. This leads to a lot of different emotions, most of which are probably better channeled in to screenplays than blog posts. However, there is one thing that I can't help but feel: Lucky. Sounds weird, but it is true. It happened while we were away—probably because we were away. There was a lot of valuable stuff that was not taken. The total value of things lost was not that high, in monetary terms—though my wife is pretty upset about the sentimental value of her lost jewelry. Other than my papers (passport, social security card, birth and marriage certificates) my only positions lifted were my old video camera and some peripheral A/V stuff: a couple of cheap lav mics, various audio cables and the like.

Personally, it could have been much worse. On a last minute whim, I packed up my new camera, tripod, 35mm lens adapter and lenses and hauled them a few hours away with only the slight hope of using them in a jam-packed weekend. Well, I did use them. I forced myself to break the rig out and spend some time capturing my daughter playing in the yard. It felt wonderful. And, it saved me a from a devastating loss.

Again, in the grand scheme of things, this would not have been a huge monetary loss. But buying that stuff represented a shift in my direction, my focus, my life. Using it this weekend, despite the inconvenience, took a dedication to this change. If I had lost that "stuff", it would have meant a lot more to me than the couple of thousand dollars that the renters insurance would have comped me for it. And for that, I can't help but feel lucky that I spent Sunday shooting instead of lamenting.