Camera-less

Yup, it’s been almost 2 months now.

I’m sure most of you would have heard about the little mishap I had in Phuket. If you haven’t, well, I was in Phuket in end June for a company meeting & I extended another day to go island hopping. So during my island hopping trip, we arrived at Phi Phi Island & the guide asked us to bring down only our wallet & camera. But it was drizzling so I left my camera on the boat. However when I got out, I noticed that the rain had stopped & many people were carrying their cameras along, so I decided to go back into the boat to get it. When I got out the 2nd time, I literally dropped half of myself into the water because I didn’t realise that the boat had swayed further into sea. And guess where was my beloved barely-2-months-old Canon 600D? Uh huh…right there hanging by my side…dipped into the sea with me.

It died immediately. And frankly, my soul died with it too.

So anyway, I’m trying to claim from the travel insurance for damage of personal belongings, and at the same time I’ve also sent in my camera to Canon, hoping for a ‘compassionate replacement’. I’m still waiting for both replies.

And I can’t use my previous camera either, the G7, because of some lens problem, which was why I bought the new one in the first place. So basically, I’m totally camera-less for 2 months now.

Initially, it felt like I’m suddenly…naked. And of course I was grieving too. Considering how much cameras meant in my life. And then also, I had just joined the Dew Photography crew in my church not too long ago…I think I had only covered 3 events so far…before I became camera-less. Sigh. Now & then I still receive emails from my team leader on the coming events in church, asking for volunteer photographers. Every time I receive them, it reminds me that I’m camera-less. Sigh.

But what I wanted to say is…the loss has taught me some valuable lessons in life. I’ve learned to let go. And I’ve learned to deal with the loss. And that it’s…’just…a…camera’. And so, I’ve learned to live without something important in my life. If you want to understand how I feel, just imagine losing your mobile phone. Feels like something’s not right…something’s missing? And you can’t sit still, right? How long can you live without it?

It’s the same thing. Of course you can argue that I don’t use a camera everyday like a mobile phone…but the feeling of loss is quite the same. I could have impulsively gone to buy a new one, maybe even a cheap or secondhand one just for spare. But I’ve learned to detach myself from a camera. That is a big thing, my friend. OK. That is a big thing.

And my life goes on…. 🙂