Recently, I used an illustration of traveling through airports with just enough luggage to fit in a cabin bag. The hassles of checked-in baggage, as I presumptuously stated, could be avoided with planning and preparation. It took six months of no shopping, de cluttering, parting with clothes and shoes which no longer matched my style and leaving books behind. When I wrote that post, the main focus was ease of passage through two countries. I have since come to the conclusion that this was an excuse. The desire to travel light had permeated other areas of my life.
George Clooney, in the movie, Up In The Air, presents a bag to an audience. "What are you carrying in your bag?" He refers to bags as the weight of life that we carry around with us. People hoard stuff in their lives and carry heavy bags. Life is an accumulative process of experiences and memories. However, adults are able to learn new skills and acquire new memories by over-riding previous information in the neurons of their brain cells. Men in particular reach an age when they have to start letting go - of unnecessary memories, childish behaviour, emotional baggage. It's a rite of passage into responsible adulthood. To put on something new, you have to put off something else. By not letting go, de cluttering, life is weighed down by multiple layers of emotional suitcases.
To start a new relationship with a woman, I had to fully let go of the residue from any past relationships. To start fresh with family and some friends, I had to move past former mistakes. To embrace new responsibilities and ideas, outdated notions had to be left behind. A wise friend told me, "Simple is not easy, don't confuse the two." We talk about simplifying our lives and paying attention to what matters. It's not easy. If packing all my belongings into a cabin bag for a 12-hour flight and 5 month break proved to be hard work, just imagine how much more work it takes to intentionally simplify our lives. We must - prune the hedges of regrets, or we cannot simply fly.
