Tuesday, December 15, 2020

December 15--Baggage

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. 
--Charles Warner

    Now here's a topic I can really relate to--baggage!!! 
    Let's take actual baggage first. I travel a lot. Airline baggage fees make me crazy. As the airlines demand smaller and smaller baggage, I have purchased smaller wheelie bags and become ever-more efficient at packing. I have no problem doing some hand-laundry along the way of a trip in order to beat the airline baggage fees. The whole deal has become a fun challenge for me, and packing gets simpler each time. 
    Next there is clutter, which to me is physical and mental baggage. I can stand clutter only so long, and then it has to go. While some might consider my woman cave cluttered, it has gone through several simplification passes and currently meets with my approval. Disorganization is baggage I'd rather not drag around. 
    Finally there's the backpack, suitcase, or steamer trunk of the past that humans drag along with them. I had a steamer trunk load for a long time--dysfunctional family of addicts, verbal abuse by my older brother Ken, responsible for keeping my mom alive and happy (impossible, by the way), responsible for my mom's death because I left home, my own addiction. It took a LOT of inner work to offload this baggage. I am eternally grateful to the 12-Step program for giving me the means to move from a steamer trunk to a backpack. As long as we are alive and have memories, we'll have some baggage. Living well, living simply, we can keep the load very light. And the backpack can have a water bottle, a good book, and joy--I like that baggage!
    Traveling lightly,
        Leta


My smallest wheelie to-date


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