Emotional Attachments to One's Book

I had a bit of a scare this morning. My wife chose to wash my pants while I was in the shower – pants which still held my phone and the USB thumbdrive I carry with me at all times. My wife found the phone when it fell out of the pocket (before being thrown into the washer), but she didn’t notice the thumbdrive.

That thumbdrive holds every chapter in my Hogwarts book, and that’s where I’ve stored them since the very beginning. The reason I carry it with me is because I never know when an idea will pop into my head or when I might find myself with some free time next to a computer. So you can imagine my reaction when I realized what might have happened. I pulled every soggy jean out of the washer and searched every pocket. I had no idea if a USB drive could survive immersion in soapy water, but I was going to give it a shot. Eventually my wife discovered the drive in one of my son’s boots next to the washer. Like the phone, it had fallen out of the pocket prior to washing. My relief was indescribable.

Too be honest, this was an overreaction on my part. I have the book backed up in multiple locations, so no material would have been lost had the drive been ruined, but after having carried it around (nearly) every day for the last year and a half, I’ve developed an emotional attachment to it – something I didn’t realize before now. To me, that drive symbolizes THE BOOK and all the work I’ve put into it. I would have mourned its loss.

But it’s safely back in my pocket again. So, really, much ado about nothing, I suppose.