Losing the 2024 Folder

Yesterday, I couldn’t sleep. I spent the entire night trying to fix my external hard drive. It took forever to mount, and when it finally did, it threw a bunch of errors.

But the worst part?

My 2024 folder—the one that held everything I had filmed, edited, and created last year—was unreadable.

I was shocked. Frustrated.

I tried every method I knew to recover the data, but the folder seemed completely corrupted. I didn’t know the exact cause—maybe a bad sector, or a logical failure. Either way, I had hit a wall.

If it was a simple logical issue, maybe someone with the right tools and skills could fix it. But I’m not that person. And if it was a hardware problem? Then I’d need a professional data recovery service… which I definitely can’t afford right now.

I exhausted all the accessible methods, and nothing worked.

Could I spend money on expensive recovery software? Sure. Would it guarantee results? Not really. So, I made the difficult decision: let it go.

If I had recovered that folder, I would’ve been able to look back at my work and relive all the creative moments of 2024. But since I can’t? Maybe it’s just another sign to focus forward.

One day, if I become successful enough, I can always revisit that old drive and bring it to a recovery center. And if it works, great. If not, at least I’ve accepted it.

I avoided using cloud platforms because I wanted to keep my files private. I didn’t want my work floating around online.

But now I realize: No one really cares about my files but me. In this endless ocean of data, I’m just another drop.

I regret not backing up to the cloud—even privately. Platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud rarely fail. If I had uploaded my work, I’d still have it but it will for sure break my wallet, lol.

Letting go of the 2024 folder frees me to focus on what comes next. Those projects helped shape me, even if they’re gone. They built the creative, resilient version of me that exists today.

And if by chance, I recover those files someday? That past version of me will thank the present one for trying.

To top it all off, my old laptop is now locked, I forgot my password! My sunglasses are scratched, I accidentally dropped it while driving! And the umbrella I bought in Malaysia got ruined after accidentally hitting my bicycle—it fell, and so did break the umbrella.

Life throws a lot at us sometimes. But as long as we keep showing up, learning, and letting go when we must—we’ll be okay.