The bright side of burglary

Few things are scarier than coming home and finding out you’ve been burglarized. My home is supposed to be my safe zone—my sanctuary—so when that space is violated, it’s a real shock. Not too long ago, it happened to me, and it left me stunned, scared, and, oddly enough, liberated. 

Before I found my sanctuary outside of Los Angeles, I lived in the heart of the city and had to move several times due to circumstances beyond my control. For many reasons, it was a hectic time. During this period, I had just moved into a new place and spent most of the day working on my music outside of my home. I didn’t immediately realize someone had broken into my house because things, on the surface, looked like how I left them.

The burglar, to his credit, was very meticulous and only stole a few items. I only realized an intruder broke in because I couldn’t find my mic. And, believe it or not, the first thing that popped into my head when I realized somebody had broken in was, “Thank God they didn’t make a mess.”

I’m a neat freak and always keep my home tidy and organized. Still, it felt horrible to come back and find someone broke into your home, went through your belongings and then stole from you. As a minimalist, I try to keep multipurpose items because I get anxiety when I have too many things to look after. So, there weren’t many valuable things for the thief to steal. They didn’t bother with my keyboard (probably too big), but they did get their hands on a DSLR camera, some gold jewelry from Malaysia, my favorite NT1A Rode mic, a black hybrid bicycle and, most surprisingly, my make-up bag. I did what most people do and called a friend and then the police. I filed a police report, but in my heart I knew my stuff was gone for good.  

This isn’t to say that I didn’t feel violated (I did). Not feeling safe in my own home is very troubling to me, and since then I’ve looked into burglar deterrents and invested in a home security system so it doesn’t happen again. But since I don’t have many possessions, it really hurts when those possessions are taken from me. Only in this case, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. They say there are two kinds of people: those who see the glass as half full, and others who see it as half empty. I don’t know if that’s true because people can switch between those two perspectives based on their mood or circumstance. But if I had to pick one to describe me I’d say I’m a glass-half-full-person.

I’ve learned from previous setbacks and from my illnesses that negative situations are sometimes blessings in disguise. Furthermore, as an Aspie who sees personal development as a special interest, I’ve trained my brain to see the positives in any situation. Of course, having my house broken into is bad. But you know what else’s bad? Having an inflexible attachment those stolen items. No, not the mic, the bike, or the make-up bag, which are easily replaceable, but the camera and jewelry? Well, they were items I’d attached to a relationship I’ve moved on from, and I’d been thinking about what I’d do them since they were reminders of someone who’s no longer in my life.

So, after the initial shock of the break-in wore off, a growing sense of relief washed over me because I no longer had to worry over these belongings. In a sense, the universe ripped the band-aid off and made the decision for me. The items were gone, and I didn’t have to feel guilty about getting rid of them because it was out of my control.

Maybe the person who stole from me needed those things more than I did. All I know is some of those things were no longer important to me and only brought me down. So, looking on the bright side of the break-in came naturally to me, and, considering what was stolen, it made perfect sense to embrace the positive instead of falling into despair.