Red Bag…
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I'm in love with my curiosity, I really am! lol Since I bumped in to the notion of being and getting curious as opposed to just "going with it" I've literally seen, experienced and felt things in a very different way, a deeper and more intense way!
What does this have to do with this week's entry? Well, earlier in the week I actually started writing this week's blog but I really wasn't feeling it, I half wrote it only to stop as it really felt forced, as if I was writing just for the sake of having something to publish come Sunday, so I stopped. I stopped and told myself that not posting this week felt better than posting something forced.
Red Bag...old, ripped, dirty and probably smelly! That's all it took to get my creative juices flowing, Weird, I know haha
How can something so meaningless be so meaningful to me to the point of inspiring a whole blog?! That's where that curiosity comes in, where the ripped, dirty old Red Bag becomes more than meets the eye...at least my eye!
Picture this...a busy intersection in the middle of Brisbane CBD. Cars zooming by flocks of people bunched together on the sidewalk awaiting the little green "walk" figure to appear. I, along with the "Red Bag" were among the flock this week on my way to work. The bag had an owner, a man holding hands with his lady, entwined between their fingers was a sweet pasta necklace. A child's gift I imagine, one I've received from my own children many times before. A sweet motherly gesture proudly putting her child's art on display for all to see. And the bag, yes, THE Red Bag! It's state definitely caught my eye lol At first I was drawn to it for all the wrong reasons, judging reason's if I'm going to be honest but to my surprise that soon changed.
This is where that curiosity thing I mentioned earlier comes into it. I looked at this "thing" literally falling apart and began to wonder a million things! Where has IT been and how long has IT been living it up?! And yes, it's definitely got 9 lives by the looks of it!
And thennnn BOOM! The Red Bag lesson slapped me across the face leaving a sting. It looks old, it looks worn out, it looks past it's used by date and yet it didn't prevent it from doing what it was MADE to do. That was lesson number one people! Only because something or someone looks a certain way, is a certain age or colour doesn’t mean it can't, it shouldn't or it couldn't do what it was MADE to do! Remember that, I know I will.
Now, lesson two my friends was "IT"! Why oh why do we (yes YOU and ME!) continue to feel the need of having to have 10 different bags in all different colours when we already have our own "Red Bag" that does its job?! We do this with everything, one just doesn't seem to ever be enough...what void are we trying to fill and why are we using clothes, electronics and other meaningless $hit to fill that void? Why are "we" never fully satisfied with what we have and in turn keep wanting and buying more?
I for one started to "declutter" my wants a few years back so can proudly say that my wardrobe for one doesn't look like it used to lol For example, I now have one black work hand bag and one brown work hand bag. A black belt and a brown belt. You get where I'm going with this right? haha I started but I have a looonnngggg way to go as I still have multiples of other things like Bikinis, Jeans, Scarves etc
But seriously, asking ourselves "why" and being silent to get the answer is something i think is important. If something does the job why keep replacing it or why the need to have multiples of the same things in different colours? To match my outfit I hear you think haha I get it but why? Why it is so important to match our way into debt when being “matchy matchy” doesn't create memories…what does that is experiences.
All that money and time we spend on gadgets, cars, jewellery and clothes filling whatever void it is we've got robs us from the experiences we could be having on gatherings and holidays with our loved ones.
People spend good and big money UPgrading their devices, cars, wardrobe, face & body with the same old excuse to make them feel better, you know the one "I change my car every year so it doesn't loose value"...ummm I've been one to say something along those lines before...it’s just a “make me feel good” for a meaningless type of statement type of saying.
Look up the word "grading" in the dictionary, it says "the act of classifying something on a scale by quality, rank, size, or progression" add the word "up" in front of that, what can you see? People, like millions of people are running on the endless hamster wheel of never being satisfied as they "have" to UP everything constantly. And you know what the crazzzyyy thing is? Is that it NEVER fills the void, it actually NEVER works! Well, it does until the feeling wears off and BOOM, off we go again to purchase another UP this or UP that. When will we find true gratitude and joy for that which we already have and look within to embrace and accept our own unique little voids without thinking we need to fill it with the latest device, face filler or the 10th pair of sneakers?
I must confess, seeing women in their shiny beautiful clothes, bags, shoes and make up on a daily basis on my way to work makes me want it all too! I want to shine and stand out like them too sometimes by blinging it up but just like a sugar craving…I resist it.
Now, I do fall of the wagon sometimes but quickly remind myself that it’s not just the food pyramid that’s upside down, it’s the “society’s must have to look and feel good” pyramid that also needs a good shake up. And just like the food pyramid, if we wait for the health organisation or any other government organisation to do the right thing by us and fix it, we’ll never be healthy. Same applies to this, we are bombarded by “those organisations” telling us what we “need” in order to be beautiful, worthy and happy…F@$k THAT I say! I’m on a mission to shine like the blingy ladies I mentioned earlier with as little as possible. And NO I don’t mean naked haha I mean without having to buy endless new $hit and only buy what I really need. Make good of the stuff I already have, feel wholeheartedly beautiful, powerful and unstoppable without feeling I have to fill any void with materialistic meaningless crap. And that’s what it is…crap…just like $hit it will one day disintegrate into the ground unless that is, it can’t which in that case it goes to landfill and boy is that a whole other subject to write about!
So in conclusion, your beat up car that gets you to places safely is epic! The jacket you’ve worn 5 winters in a row that’s beginning to fray still keeps you warm! That phone released 3 years ago still keeps you connected! That Red Bag that’s ripped and discoloured still carry’s your precious items.
We…age daily…yet…the thought of being replaced because of a natural occurrence hurts us…it’s this ageing…that makes us perfectly imperfect…it’s this ageing that we need to embrace and love…it’s this ageing we need to be proud off…not just when it comes to people but…when it comes to materialistic things too. The only way not to age is to die. Don’t kill of your materialistic things too soon, be grateful for it too came from the Earth.
With Kindness,
