– Guest blog by Stephanie Duschaine
The older I get, the more situations I find myself in that continually prove that you never really know for sure, and that perception isn’t always reality.
Let me give you two very different examples.
The first example dates back to many years ago, when I first started working as an on-camera host. I was on location at the Grand Prix in Montreal, learning all about these incredible cars and intricate technology. I was interviewing some very big people in the Formula One world, and I was on cloud nine, feeling confident and eager for the content to be pushed live! I was asking all of the right questions, and listening intently to the answers…this was going to be great.
After my first interview, though, the client who had hired me pulled me aside and tried his best to gently let me know that when I was ‘listening intently,’ I was also looking like I was about to go beast mode. Turns out my ‘listening intently’ face also closely resembles my ‘I’m about to rage’ face. Photographic evidence:
A clear example of when my perception of everything being peachy wasn’t quite the reality.
My next example ventures into the world of the technology that we all know and love. For many of us, huge chunks of our lives are stored on our cell phone or computer. I have a decade of photos on my laptop, and my phone storage is usually maxed out due to the massive amount of photos and videos I have on it.
I had my first (and last) experience with losing my entire digital life just after I graduated college. I had everything stored on that machine – four years of collegiate work, photos from my time at Michigan, job applications, and tons of music. I brought it with me everywhere. And, dropped it more than once when I would slip and fall on sheets of ice during the Michigan winter (and yes, this happened often).
Well, whether it was the drops or simply old age, one day my precious computer just decided it was done. A quick, seemingly instant death. I didn’t see it coming and no, I had not backed up.
I won’t soon forget my amazing times at the University of Michigan, but thank goodness for friends who actually had backed up their devices and still have plenty of photographic proof that sometimes, you just shouldn’t pluck your own eyebrows.
I digress. The point is, no matter how confident you are about something, you should always consider and be prepared for the alternatives. A lesson that I learned the hard way.
Over the years, I have become much more diligent about a having a backup. A backup plan, a secret weapon, or a safety net. There are always times when life throws us that nasty curveball, and to be able to breathe and go with the flow is a great feeling.
Since that day in Montreal, I try to be immediately open with each new client before working with them that any and all feedback is welcomed, and I am much more aware of the status of my face (that sounds very strange). And when it comes to technology, I would be destroyed if I lost what I have on my computer now – a decade of my writing, work videos, old photos and countless other documents. That’s exactly why my Seagate Slim is never far away.
We’re buddies, my Slim and I. It comes with me everywhere because it’s, well, slim – and fits easily into my laptop bag or purse. And with tons of storage, I can rest easy knowing that everything that’s on my laptop is safely backed up on my Slim, and that my safety net is in place.
Ah, reassurance. A wonderful thing to have, indeed.
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