Here is the story of how thieves left a 3000 gift. The events leading up to this moment were one of the saddest and most frustrating days. I had recently moved into a new filming studio that was supposed to have excellent security. It was indeed a very nice office. It had ample parking and was only 10 minutes of driving from my home. And best of all, or so I thought, my two offices had state-of-the-art security doorknobs. But unfortunately, all of that was tested and failed only two months after my initial move-in date.
The total loss was over $25,000 in filming equipment. Thankfully, my insurance reimbursed about 80% of the stolen goods. However, the real damage was my loss of time and psychological.
The silver lining was that I found this stunning knife by Yu Kurosaki in the trash. I have no idea how or why it ended there, and your guess is as good as mine. Many subscribers commented that the thieves had no idea what type of knife they were looking at and were likely intimidated by how large it was. Others thought they hid the knife in the trashcan, hoping I would through the box of trash away, and they would swing by and claim the blade later. And still, others thought the thief knew how hard it would be to sell the knife and decided against taking it—all of these theories as plausible explanations.
I could care less why or how the knife ended up in the trash. I am joyful; I still have it. I love this work of art by Yu Kurosaki, and it will be a piece that will always have a special place in my heart and home.
Over the next few months, I had trouble going back into the studio. Not only because it was a mess since everything was unboxed and trashed. I did not have the pride and joy of walking into my new office anymore. It took me over a month of cleaning up and sorting through to get a proper inventory assessment. Each day that went by, I wanted to go there less and less. Some days, I would go into the studio and sit there, not knowing what to do or where to go. I swept the office floor every day. I would shuffle boxes around even when they were empty.
If I am honest with myself, I would say I was going through depression or some PTSD. I had no one to talk to about the ordeal. Of course, I spoke to my wife about it, but we have three kids and our time at home is all about them. My work and professional life stay in the office, and I try not to bring any of my work home. That was why the office was such an essential step for me to separate my work and home life. And after the burglary, I was forced to work from home again, partly because I didn’t want to go back to the office and somewhat because I couldn’t get myself to produce more video content.
It has been nearly two years since that incident happened. I have fully recovered, both financially and emotionally. Everyone once in a while, someone would bring up the incident, and it would cause me to replay the day’s events in my mind. I would remember walking into my studio early that morning and seeing how it was messier than usual. There were boxes misplaced, and things didn’t look right. Then looking at my tripods and seeing no Red Komodos and looking over my storage shelves and seeing no katanas. All of it took a few minutes to register, and once it did, it felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped on me. You feel your stomach fall, and your heart stops beating for just a second. My body does not react that way when thinking of the incident anymore.
I am happy to report that though that incident was terrible to experience, the community that has supported me all these years came through for me. Supportive messages, encouragement, and love poured through my channel. My inbox was flooded with nothing by love from my supporters. New friendships developed from the incident, and I am proud to say I have come out of that experience stronger than before.
