I left work early today, and forgot to bring my backpack. I noticed it was missing while on the way out and came back up to get it. (My "wallet, cellphone, keys" mantra needs to include "backpack.") I walked out again and took a leisurely stroll, making observations, feeling the cold wind and taking notice of all the storefronts closing on Houston Street. "Oh look!... a Birch Coffee shop is opening", I thought. "Do I really like Birch Coffee? It's kind of bitter tasting, but the baristas are always so earnest." I was hungry and just barely avoided grabbing a Margarita slice from crowded Joe's Pizza and eventually settled on Maison Kaiser for a dignified Parisian lunch before my dignified haircut at Fellow Barber. I did my usual take-videos-of-my-food-and-post, ate, paid, and got up to leave.
My bag was missing. I checked, double-checked, and looked accusingly at the guilty clientele who perhaps snuck it under their winter outerwear piled high. I calmly alerted the waitstaff and management, and they graciously looked in every corner and through surveillance cameras to see what happened. (TOP security there! Those croissants are like gold!) No luck. My heart sunk at my loss. Some items I figured I could replace: The Leather and Artemisia Jo Malone sample might be difficult, but (spoiler alert) The La Mer Oil Absorbing Lotion is soon to be updated, The La Mer Renewal Oil was almost empty, and paperwork showing options for pigeon removal provided at my last council meeting would be an easy lookup online. The padlock I replaced for the one I left at home can be replaced with the one I left at home. My Canon G7 camera would be a major loss, but my hard disk with almost every important document from the past 10 years would be a devastating loss. I also couldn't remember if nude pics were on this disk, but that didn't bother me as much as my all my tax information going public. NOW I know how Trump feels! Yuk!
I was calm but crestfallen. I hadn't stopped anywhere from the office to the cafe, so where could my bag have gone? It wasn't stolen. It didn't drop off my back. I thought maybe I left it at work...again. I called the only person I knew who would be at the office, Teda (a major plug for Teda's dedication!), and she was there..after hours..still working. I sheepishly asked her to look around the office by my desk. I waited to hear that there was no bag. "You left it on your desk with both zippers open" she said. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU." I was so relieved. And so angry at myself. I debated if I should inform the cafe staff, but I thought it best they not worry (or pretend to worry!)
Who leaves their bag behind after coming back to get it after losing it the first time? Was it Louis' ferret that he brought in today that distracted me? Or Patsy Cline, Larissa's Frenchie, who I was petting earlier that made my mind wander? I leave lots of things behind, like the one sneaker that really made fitness class a challenge, my glasses, my cell phone and wallet. Come to think of it, I do it often.
There are solutions (like Google Drive) or getting two cameras, but the big issue is that I'm not always living in the present...where my mind needs to be. Live in the present! Live for now! (Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday...there are so many cute phrases). Be purposeful. Be mindful. Be here. I am here! I am now! I am this second! I wish I didn't carry all my yesterdays with me...and maybe losing the bag was a sign to lose my baggage! Don't carry it with you anymore, Roger!