I was on my computer today doing some organization, using Claude to help me format a few things. No, not Things tasks (That’s going super well, need to write a follow up), but just some files and such on my computer.

Starting Small

It started small, with files and folders I didn’t mind Claude touching. Just screenshots I’ve taken over the years. I figured sorting them into folders by year would help me process them, remember the context of each one, and decide what was worth keeping as a memory in my photo library. It was great. It helped me find duplicates and clear those out. I also had it go through my old song lyrics. I’ve got a TON of those from years of writing music. (That’s a post in itself. As soon as I get some time, I’ll be tracking some new music.)

Simple stuff like that.

Then I started moving receipts into Apple Notes, and I thought, hey, let me have Claude clean up my notes so they all follow the same format. That’ll be great!

I’m cooking…

And this is where it got fun, because I have a lot of recipes. I’ve made some of the most incredible meals over the years, and I’d been writing them down for my kids so that when I’m gone, they’ll have my recipes in their hands. Just a few from my notes and photos are below.

Food is a beautiful thing.

It’s something all of humanity shares. We enjoy meals together, we cook together, we pass these experiences between our loved ones, we experience feelings, we make memories, we live life and food is part of it. I personally cook because I enjoy it, and it’s a way I show love to others. If I cook for you, it’s because I want to make you smile and see you enjoy the food I create. It’s part of my personality.

It’s very personal to me and I know it’s personal to many others. You may make your version of a recipe differently than I make mine, and that’s something we can share from anywhere in the world. HA, it’s like open source!!!!

Then I was Overcome with Emotion

Here’s where it opened my eyes and took an emotional turn. So, Claude started its process, and as I was scrolling through the recipes manually, I stumbled on this.

My mother’s creamy Italian salad dressing. I know it might not seem like a big deal, but it was important to me.

I panicked. This was exactly the way my mom shared it with me, and it was the last recipe she had shared before she passed. I remember the converation, I remember the laugh. In fact, I have a FaceTime photo of it with her exact reaction. It was a core memory of mine.

I stopped Claude immediately. I felt this deep sense of regret for almost reformatting my mother’s little notes. Her wording. Her signature ‘😘’.

The Realization

I told Claude to “remove all emoji from the output, unless told to add them.” Claude doesn’t know my Mom, and doesn’t know the story. The experience I had. The importance of that little emoji, the format, knowing that she typed those words by hand on her iPhone and sent them to me while we chatted.

I was so caught up in being organized, in cleaning things up, that I almost erased something priceless to me, because of a formatting automation, because of my mistake–my command

AI is incredible. I love it. I use it every day and will continue to use it everyday. But this was an excellent reminder that sometimes, some things, are better left alone.

I love you, Mom.

P.S. I’m now writing #NoClaude or tagging with ‘NoClaude’ in my documents, notes, or things I want protected. With the new instruction:

* Any file that has a label, note, or tagged with any of the following, 'No Claude' , 'NoClaude' or '#NoClaude', do not touch that file or folder, it is off limits to you.