Thursday 15 December 2011

Loss

Panic! This morning the computer wouldn't start. Considering I have a book in there almost finished and hadn't saved yesterday's work to the external drive, the feeling was like finding the dog missing and the gate still closed, car gone from the garage or of being lined up at the checkout with an overflowing trolley of goods and finding your wallet missing when you know you had it 40 minutes ago whe you paid for coffee. I guess we have all experienced that scary moment of amnesia when you try to remember when you last saw the car or the wallet and in my case, what's inside that box that I haven't copied and what did I write yesterday??  That feeling of loss, the blankness of memory as we try to recall actions done on automatic pilot. When did I last see the dog, did I lock the car, the blind rushing back to the coffee shop hoping the wallet is still there becomes a trauma if the situation isn't resolved quickly. On my second day in Ireland I went to the loo at Glendalough, walked back to the car and discovered I had left my shoulder bag hanging on the hook in the cubicle. That bag had everything in it, cards, money, driver's licence!  As you would expect, it was no longer in the cubicle. I hurtled into the visitor's centre to report it missing and found that someone had handed it in. I think that was a greater shock than finding I had lost it. Moments like that restore one's faith in humanity.  Lost people are a different matter. I can't imagine how that feels. So at this Christmas time let us all be mindful of how we part from our friends and family, turn off the automatic pilot and look at them, see them. Let us all hope that the missing people find their way home. Happy Christmas.

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