If a Mafioso ordered you at gunpoint to pack a suitcase and board a flight within the hour, what would you take with you? Overseas-educated friends often lament having to “pack their lives” into infinitesimal baggage weight limits, but now that it’s my turn to traverse the ‘big pond’, I don’t see what the fuss is about. Granted, I’m still at the stage of mentally postmarking “must-take” items without actually packing anything, but surprisingly, I’ve whittled down the “indispensables” to a gratifying few.
What is really important to you? In other words, what is the bare minimum you need to be happy? Nothing makes us as existentially ponderous as a transcontinental move; but I believe we should be ready to pack that suitcase at a moment’s notice at anytime – and do it with the future in mind, not what we leave behind.
It’s Not About “Things”; It’s About Plans
If you had the chance to start over anew – whether or not you are moving away – what would you do? Who do you want to be? What crucial relationships would you keep? Sages often speak of “intangibles” – qualities within us that cannot be taken away. These can be career aspirations, a goal and game plan (to be a parent, do volunteer work or learn a new language), close-knit family and friends, or religious faith.
My dream is to be a news reporter – beginning at a small-medium organization so I can learn the ropes before I fry bigger fish. If that doesn’t work, I’m happy to work at a bank for a few years, save money and go to graduate school while freelancing. A dream and a back-up plan. I can reduce that even further and say that I’d be happy working as a receptionist as long as I can write on the side, have good friends and keep my family close. Never mind what kind of apartment I live in or what kind of car I drive. That’s my bare minimum. What’s yours? These are the real “indispensables” that don’t take up trunk space. Hemiplegic author and journalist Joshua Prager, who at 19 was hit by a bus in Jerusalem, called it a “mental toolbox” which “enables me to respond positively to adversity”.
A business coach I worked with lived by the adage “Begin with the end in mind”. Even the minutest projects required so thorough a blueprint that I would discreetly roll my eyes and think ‘At this rate we’ll never get anything done’. But I learned she was right. We need to keep reminding ourselves where we’re headed otherwise we lose focus and life passes us by.
The Five Bare Essentials
Exempting clothing and sundries, my five bare essentials include my notebook, my laptop, ‘The Power’ by Rhonda Byrne, a book that changed my life, a beautiful hand-painted batik tapestry I bought in Palembang to remind me of where I come from and…my cell phone? To reduce it even further, it’s the photos, videos and my portfolio on my hard drive that matter most – and these can easily be relegated to cloud storage, voiding the need for the gadget itself but as a storage and viewing device. I rely on my laptop for work and play, my phone for communication and I couldn’t ask for anything more but human interaction. Has digitization made us less materialistic? Well, maybe for those of us who haven’t instead developed Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
If you find it hard to pack your life into a suitcase, could you be identified with objects, feeling that your belongings define you? Do you have unfinished business that’s holding you back? Are there dysfunctional relationships or unneeded clutter in your life that’s keeping you from seeing what matters and what you already have within you – which won’t wound up lost at baggage claim? Some say you need to lose everything to know what’s important to you – I did. Hopefully it never happens to you. Try packing your life into a suitcase any day – whether or not you have a flight booked.
