Baggage

We all have it. It may be called luggage or storage. It could be a suitcase or a purse or a carpetbag or a trunk or a briefcase or a tote or a carryon. It is the stuff we carry with us. It is the stuff we cannot leave at home with our other stuff.

The most important stuff like a date book, address book, laptop, tablet, keys, personal hygiene stuff, camera, and all that other stuff one must have immediately available in an assortment of bags. We drive for miles in vehicles that were constructed to carry us to far off places with our stuff.

Then there is that “emotional” baggage we all carry around. No matter who we are or where we come from, we carry Affection, Anger, Angst, Anguish, Annoyance, Anxiety, Apathy, Arousal, Awe, Boredom, Confidence, Contempt, Contentment, Courage, Curiosity, Depression, Desire, Despair, Disappointment, Disgust, Distrust, Dread, Ecstasy, Embarrassment, Envy, Euphoria, Excitement, Fear, Frustration, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Happiness, Hatred, Hope, Horror, Hostility, Hurt, Hysteria, Indifference, Interest, Jealousy, Joy, Loathing, Loneliness, Love, Lust, Outrage, Panic, Passion, Pity, Pleasure, Pride, Rage, Regret, Relief, Remorse, Sadness, Satisfaction, Self-confidence, Shame, Shock, Shyness, Sorrow, Suffering, Surprise, Terror, Trust, Wonder, Worry, Zeal, and Zest.

This baggage makes us who we are. Some of us carry around more than others. Some of the baggage weighs us down while other baggage inspires. From the time we are born we start loading up this baggage.

Seeing your parents in the audience as you played a teapot on stage, your first kiss, your first rejection, the loss of a pet or a parent or a partner, your first dance, your college friends, and those alone times are all baggage that conform our innerds to present our outerds. Our baggage is who we are. We are nothing but a big sack of skin and bones only differentiated by our personal baggage.

When we meet someone new, a complete stranger, we make social niceties before opening our baggage. Some never share their baggage while others open up immediately. We may enjoy comparing our own baggage with others and sometimes can form strong emotional connections.

Some I’ve met and knew I could not handle their baggage. Some I probably created baggage. Some dropped me into an unknown world of a baggage whirlpool I was not prepared to handle.

So today, with a little more experience and some adventures, I calculate if I want to share my baggage or if I want to delve into another’s. Decisions we all have to make.