We all use computers--they are a fact of life now, and aren't going away anytime soon, if ever. Love it or hate it, information technology is impossible to avoid--we are fully ensconced in the Information Age; an entire generation has grown up and gone on to have kids of their own knowing nothing but. Try as I might, I cannot find one aspect of my life that is not touched by computers, and I dare anyone to tell me otherwise. It is a paradox of 21st century life that computers make things easier, or more complicated; faster, or more time-consuming; streamlined, or more complex. Rare is the day that I do not have both my phone and my laptop within arm's reach (or on my lap), as I update my calendar(s), respond to instant messages within seconds, balance my checkbook, and research something or other while simultaneously adding items to my Amazon Prime shopping cart. Sure, life today looks a lot different than it did 25 or 50 years ago, but, in reality, we are still living our lives and accomplishing things on our to-do lists just like our ancestors--but in a different way. We sleep, we eat, we shop, and we have leisure time, reading and journaling and playing and being entertained. The medium may have changed, but the objective is the same--to get stuff done so we can get more stuff and have more time to enjoy that stuff. Blogging (diaries and journals); web browsing (reading the daily paper); sorting and uploading photos (building scrapbooks and picture albums), and reading research articles (encyclopedias); watching funny videos and listening to music (TV and radio and records); and sending messages and video chats (phone calls and writing letters). But I digress...the title of this says I am supposed to be talking about freeing up some space.
A few days ago I was uploading some photos onto my laptop, and I got this warning that I did not have sufficient room on my drive--and I would have to free up some space. Dr. Apple Support advised me to change some settings and free up space by opting to store some items on my iCloud (or is it "in" the cloud? I am never sure about this). So, I followed those steps, selected the right utility, checked and unchecked boxes as suggested, and, voila!, the MacBook Air storage graphic now had over 2/3 of its potential storage space available. Yeah me! All of the sudden, though, I get warnings--three in a row actually--that my iCloud storage is (1) over 50% full, then (2) almost full, and finally, (3) completely full, and I am urged in ALL CAPS to hurry and purchase more storage space lest I lose everything, signed, "the iCloud Team." What the heck? How was that advice helpful if freeing up space on my computer by moving a lot of it to the "cloud" only resulted in not having enough space there either? As my husband would say, it must be a conspiracy--it's all about the money. "They" just want more money, to trick me into buying more stuff to keep my stuff. Well, I was not having any of that nonsense--I was not going to buy any more storage in some cloud that no one sees or can explain to me in a way that makes sense, to store MY files and photos. It's bad enough we already have to pay almost $100 a month to watch TV and talk on our phones and use our computers. So I decide to take a good look at my files and photos and see if I really do have that much stuff taking up too much space, and to determine if I could possibly (ahem!) do without some of it. Off I go on my quest...
At first, I am just half-heartedly scanning my files, looking for some junk to delete--old downloads, duplicate files, photos I already have uploaded on a photo sharing site, and expired documents. I figure out how to delete emails that kept mysteriously reappearing by solving the "archive vs trash" mystery in iOS mail. I upload more photos to Shutterfly, and I delete temporary files I forgot to delete years ago. After hours of painful purging, I check my available iCloud storage--it is STILL over 98% full! This is serious, and I am perplexed--I got rid of anything I do not need to keep, or use. Or did I? Hmmm. I change the sort filter--instead of by date, I sort by size, and then by subject, and I begin to find huge files, files with many megabytes, and attachments. Music, and photos, and documents--all being kept but not really used anymore. Heck, I use Spotify and Amazon Music and other digital media services now, while my CDs and iTunes music library collect dust (well, iTunes doesn't get dusty, but I have forgotten I even have music loaded). And photos? Like I said, I already have uploaded nearly all my photos for the past 20 years onto Shutterfly, from which I routinely create photo books and prints for framing; then there are the 20 plus Groovebooks on the bookshelf, and the 10 vintage photo albums in my cedar chest. Ever so slowly, begrudgingly, I begin to delete images from my computer and the cloud--first only a few, then more, until finally I have dumped over 1500 photos and an unknown amount of audio gigabytes into my virtual trash bin. Storage check: better, but still over 70% full. Okay, now this is pissing me off--time to get serious. I go back to my documents folder, and my mail folders, to find more space pirates. I peruse the file folders and the email subjects, especially those with attachments, and I find the culprits. Thousands upon thousands of bytes, images, PDFs, recordings, and zip files, all with the same subject: the travails and drama and accusations and angst of the past four years. Yep, the folder I jokingly renamed "crazy pants" because I could not bear to see the word "mom" blinking in my file finder window. A folder full of documents and court hearings and lists and messages and screenshots and audio recordings, even court recordings, covering the most painful period of my life. Taking up space. On my computer, in the iCloud, in my mind, my heart, and my life. Too much space. I was in danger of losing critical functions, and not just computer functions, either.
I clicked on the file folder, opened it, and quickly did a "select all" and pressed the delete key--a little window popped up asking me "are you sure you want to delete these 134 files?" I hesitated briefly, and then clicked delete. Next, I did the same to the huge email trail between me and attorneys and nurses and the court and my sisters--moved to trash. And finally, to prove I was serious about freeing about space, and moving on, I clicked on the "trash" icon--first on my computer, and next on the mail server--and selected all files. My finger hovered ever so briefly over the "delete all files" command, and then, click! They were gone. A quick check of my storage space validated my efforts--my iCloud now had over 85% free, and my MacBook was fully functional again.
Freed up space. Space to breathe. To live. To make memories, good memories. To forgive, and perhaps forget someday. Now that they weren't taking up valuable space anymore, wasting space, out of sight, and hopefully, soon, out of mind.
Huge sigh of relief.
Bitterness is gone.
Space freed.
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