I wrote a snippet about History last week in part because I was grappling with losing history, a history of sorts.
History and Upgrades
This month, I finally upgraded from the Microsoft Office 2010 physical product to the Microsoft Office 365 subscription. The upgrade went swimmingly, even magically, until it didn’t.
On about day 3, my Outlook sank.
The hole in my upgrade boat was caused by a combination of automation, new looks, and the need to make space in my Google drive storage.
I didn’t like the new look, so I tried to revert. And the reverting prompted hours of synchronization. This synchronizing jammed other operations (such as send/receive). Then I noticed my Google Drive storage had suddenly overfilled (related?), so I took to clearing copies of old emails from my Gmail account. Perfect storm for a total loss.
I lost all my email histories, 20 plus folders of work, creative, family/friend, purchases, bills, and research emails. At least 10K emails, maybe as many as 20K.
I also lost my contacts.
For a couple of days, I wrestled with trying to recover my loss and made some things worse as I flailed and finally spun out.
Losing History and Making Peace
This week, I’m strangely at peace with the loss.
Is this a lesson in letting go? Maybe this knocks me off that “I’m needed!” hill. Next time when someone calls for it, my smugness for having so much information will be replaced with “No, I don’t have that information.” Maybe this is how I make peace with asking for help (“Can you resend that information please?”).
In my heart, I know this is just the universe urging me to move on.
The histories my emails carried were mostly useless. But I counted on pockets and folders of them for work, for tax time, and commitments I have to organizations and friends.
The loss of those small pockets and folders will trip me up a few more times as I move forward. But I will move forward.
I’m at peace with letting it all go. The lost emails will not distract me, and my contact list regenerates with every email I receive.
Did I win big declutter points? Maybe a giant declutter prize? I think I deserve them.
What is a history you have lost? What history can you never imagine losing? How did or will the loss impact you as you move forward?
©Pennie Nichols. All Rights Reserved. 2023.
That’s rough. The digital world is full of hazards like this, unfortunately, and too many people have suffered a loss like this. I dread any kind of update.
I feel you, girl. I assume you got some expert help at recovering and they failed. That’s always my final move…
The “expert” was yours truly. I know enough to get myself in trouble. :/
And that is the reason I never touch anything or upgrade anything unless I’m made to, kicking and screaming. I have no technical skill whatsoever. I’m glad you survived your upgrading challenges and sounds like you learned some good life lessons to boot.
I did.
I have nightmares about losing my writing. Other than that…shockingly, I really don’t worry. Is that bad?
If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I may have been concerned, but it’s a little liberating to trust you’ll have what you’ll need.