Preserving Your Life

“When a man walks into a room, he brings his whole life with him.” – Don Draper

Truer words were never spoken. Memories. Experiences. Regrets. Hopes. Dreams. All things that have helped mold and shape who you were, who you are, and who you will be.

We carry these items with us in our backpacks, our satchels, our purses, and our wallets. We cling tightly to them, never wanting to let go because we hope that if in the same situation, we may choose a different path…or we hope to recapture that moment because of how it made us feel.

Don Draper was right. When I walk into a room, I bring my life with me. It’s on my portable hard drive. I take it with me everywhere, because simply put, I can’t always predict when life happens.

I’ll freeze a moment in time with my camera. I’ll add a new melody to my music collection. I’ll make notes for the screenplay I hope to be able to complete and cross off my bucketlist.

I don’t ever want to be caught in a situation where I’m unprepared. So I back it up. I capture the memory, the experience, the hope, and the dream because as life does happen, I want to be able to look back on it and relive that feeling.

Surfing through my hard drive is like stepping back in time. Whether it be photos of friends and family, classic (and sometimes questionable) music, or even scribblings from my youth, it’s my life and these little things that have helped shape me into the man I am today.

There is always talk about the importance of data storage. The term alone makes it sound sterile, cold, or unfeeling. It doesn’t have an emotional resonance. But when you look at it as preserving your life, it changes everything. I look forward to the day where my child is grown and I can give him a hard drive saying, “This is your life. Preserve it. Carry on the tradition of making memories.”

Then he can walk into a room, and bring his whole life with him.