Starting Fresh: Losing My Obsidian Vault in 2023
In 2023, I lost my entire Obsidian vault. Years of notes, connections, and accumulated thinking—gone.
The initial feeling? Defeated. Frustrated at myself for not backing up properly.
But then something shifted.
The Pattern
This isn’t unusual for me. I’ve lost work before. I don’t dwell on it. Instead, I treat it as a signal: the old system wasn’t working anyway.
A vault that wasn’t backed up probably wasn’t organized well either.
Acceptance
“It is what it is.”
Not resignation—recognition. The energy spent regretting the loss could go toward building something better.
The Rebuild
Now I’m doing it again. But differently:
- Better structure from the start
- Proper backup system
- Clearer purpose for each note
- Less hoarding, more synthesis
Performance improves when you’re not carrying dead weight.
Sometimes you need to lose everything to see what was worth keeping. The empty vault is a canvas, not a tragedy.
Let’s go.