Introspections of a plundered peripatetic pilgrim

I had written a lovely post on my macbook while on the plane from London on Friday, but instead of posting that I decided to post an object lesson:


Never keep all your eggs in one basket.


Particularly if your eggs consist of your macbook, camera, passport, tablet, cash, wallet, external backup hard drive of your macbook, ipod, jewellery, watch, makeup, and North Face rain jacket.


Your basket could walk away with an anonymous italian at the Rome train station.


A plethora of life lessons are lurking in this colossal mess. My options at this point are 1) devolve into a hysterical seizure of frustration and loss, or 2) do my best to see the humor and keep going. I'm trying to stick with the second. Primarily, this has been a time of introspection regarding what is truly important in life. I can honestly say that virtually all the belongings I held most dear were in that bag when it disappeared yesterday evening in the crowded station at Rome. And yet most of the electronics were essential in conjunction with experiences--the camera would be useless without people and places to photograph, the computer and tablet would lose value if they weren't useful as a means of communication with the people I care about. And these connections can be patched, even if they won't be as efficient or pretty as before. I still have the opportunity to travel, meet people, and write blogs from borrowed computers. Life can be just as sweet; I'll just have to shift my perspective for now.


At the risk of pontificating, I wanted to note one more perspective that have come to light since The Event of yesterday evening:


Simple things may be more important than you realize. You probably take many simple things for granted that would leave a hole if they were gone. For me, the loss of my chapstick, ibuprofen, and notebook filled with annotations and quotes from the first two weeks of my trip were items I didn't even think about. But when they're gone, you miss them! My experience was with losing things. Don't let yours be with losing people.Be more aware of and grateful for the people and things that surround you. (For me, increased awareness has many meanings... this blog would not exist if I had been more aware, ha!)


Kind people often seem to multiply when you need the extra support. A man at the train station who did not speak English at all stayed with me the entire time while I first searched for my bag, missed my train, reported the theft to the police, and tried to change my ticket. Although I could not get the ticket counter to give me a pass on the last train to Caserta and did not have any money to change my ticket, this man convinced the train's conductor to let me ride, and gave me 4 euros to make phone calls if I needed it. I am so grateful for him. Once I arrived at the dark and deserted Caserta train station, three hours past my expected arrival, the conductor escorted me to the police station and attempted to explain my situation to the three police officers on duty. The five of us in coalition were able to find a way to contact my host family (since all my contact information was in the backpack), and they offered me pizza and a warm place to wait. Today, Domenico and Francesca bought me Clinique face lotion and chapstick and made me espresso with whipped cream. I am a lucky girl.


Perhaps this is a sign. I've had the same tube of foundation makeup since I was 13, and the stitching on my backpack was unravelling. My face looked like a dinner plate in my last passport photo, and my laptop was two years old. This is an opportunity for new things.