I have always collected things, comics, books, Cd's, DVDs, baseball caps, concert tickets, football programmes, the cupboards in my house are filled with them. It drives my wife nuts most of the time and she keeps telling me to throw them away but I just cant. Each one of them holds a memory of the time I bought them.
The moment and mood I was in can be instantly recaptured for example the moment I listen to a piece of music or flick through a programme. I can remember being there and what the atmosphere felt like, whether it was a good or bad day, unleashing memories that I have kept locked up in side my head. Most of the the time they make me smile and I cherish them, other times perhaps not so much, but they are memories all the same.
I have a carrier bag, its nothing special to be honest it was given to me by one of the main supermarket chains and I'm very fond of it. Ive had it for nearly two years now and I use it every day for the journey too and from work. Ive tried satchels and briefcases but they just aren't for me, I don't like the bulkiness of them to be honest and I feel a fraud when I get to where I'm going and open them and remove my lunch box as its the only item in there.
My carrier bag has a true legend status in my job, when ever I have a meeting other managers ask if I have it and I smile and show them as they poke fun at me about it. At times they have offered to get me a new one and I always decline, attached as I am to this bag of mine. People don't often mention my name now when they see me at work, they ask to see the bag first and then ask how I am, their laughter sometimes hurting but to me its more than an old carrier bag.
It carries my hopes and dreams in it, a pen a notepad and whatever book I am reading at the time. It was there when I first decided to start this blog, it is there when I need to quickly jot an idea down for a short story and it carries the keys to the place I am at most happiest, the keys to my home.
So you see its more than just a carrier bag from a big supermarket chain, its a keeper of hopes and of dreams, a place that I know whenever I need something it will be in there, it doesn't poke fun at me when it sees me it just lies there almost expectant at what dreams and hopes it may carry in the day ahead. It is after all a carrier bag but a very special one that has been on this journey with me and I hope will continue to do so for many years to come, wherever that may lead or end. A new one wouldn't quite be the same.
I have one just the same... more like a double brief case. To some people it holds solutions to others it brings problems where ever I have taken it in the past. To some people it has made them feel jealous, all I know is its one heck of a case. I doubt I would ever get rid of it, its been with me now for something like 15 years. Its the one case that is bigger than all the others lol... I dunno somethings we like somethings we treasure. Sometimes it has held peoples hopes and dreams, for others its held the failure.. People dont look at it as much now. But it still holds a part of me!!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how touching that was - you made me feel emotional about a supermarket carrier bag - that's quite a feat, and just goes to show the power of writing. Great.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favourite posts of yours. Was with you all the way through and felt very emotionally engaged throughout. Good stuff.
ReplyDelete