Good Medicine for 2024

In life, there is medicine in all kinds of things that don’t live in a little rust-colored plastic bottle with a tamper-proof top, and a white label on the side stating, "no refills.”

Today’s remedy comes from an oversized suitcase…

Recently, I had to unpack my suitcase from a trip so I could wash and put away my things. 

My suitcase at the end of a trip is never the same as the suitcase I packed to leave. In the same way, as the old saying goes, “the traveler who returns is never the same person as the one who left.” 

Or, put another way, “we never step in the same river twice.”

So, today I spilled out the contents of my case onto the counter… pure chaos.

Nothing as I originally packed it. 

From Organized Zen to Baggage Bedlam

At the outset of my journey, organization was at its peak. Each item found its snug abode within zippered cubes made of nylon. Thanks to the wonders of compression pouches, a week’s worth of essentials coexisted comfortably in my suitcase. But as the trip went on, my commitment to order waned. 

Discarding discipline, my garments succumbed to their fate as “laundry”, transforming my bag into a chaotic ensemble of crumpled fabric, better left unseen than seen. My once spacious luggage, capable of embracing a week’s wardrobe mysteriously downsized to accommodate a mere three days’ worth. A magical shrinking act that left me both perplexed, and amused.

So, I did what everyone does. Stuff and stuff, as my bag would bloat and bloat, until the zippers strained and the middle of the bag bulged like a belly after a good Thanksgiving feast. This process would always reach its logical conclusion with a flight attendant’s reprimand– 

“Sir..SIRRRR… you can’t put that in the overhead– it’s too large.” 

Even my protestations that it ‘fit on the flight out here’ would do no good. 

“No soup for you today– gate checked baggage it goes.”

Unpacking the Past

I am unpacking today. I believe this is about washing, but it’s also about closing chapters, putting things away, and moving on.

The end of one trip is also just the start of the next.

I could use some unpacking of the non-luggage kind as well. 

This time last year, I was forced to leave my home because of a fire in my attic. While my house did not burn down, I could not live there for some months, as it was being repaired. 

Thus, I went on another trip to the “away.” A series of AirBnB’s in my own city, but in some ways, as far away from home as I could be. I spent my Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and nearly Easter, exiled to this “away”. My bags stayed packed the entire time.

It turns out that even when I eventually came home, those bags remained packed. I didn’t realize this until the other day, as I looked out over the city from my home on the hill, and felt the stress of the “away” again. 

Embracing the Present

Perhaps it was something about the cool winter air, the way the light shone through the leaves of the trees– it all felt like last year, again.

The escape from my smoldering home, my subsequent aimless wandering from rent house to rent house, until just recently. 

Months later, still, I had not unpacked my bags, and my heart bore the unkept chaos of a suitcase full of unclean, wadded up garments.  

Concluding our journeys, whether they’re good or not so good, holds its own significance. The act of unpacking, washing and putting away our stuff can be a routine exercise, a conscious effort, or just something that we do when it dawns on us. 

So today, as I am beginning the practice of concluding my journey in this way, I realize that as things are being properly returned to their place, I can look out my window, in my own home and not remember last year, but only think of the joys of the time and place I am in. Right now.

As we embark on the journey we call the “New year”, we ask ourselves what we want to accomplish, what is our resolve, what we want to quit doing (eating and drinking so much, for me). These are all worthwhile considerations. 

Yet, in the midst of crafting our goals, let's not overlook the importance of preparing a place for what the New Year holds in store for us. Perhaps we only need to carve out a little space. There can be plenty if we remember to unpack the baggage of yesteryear, and bring along a wardrobe of fresh possibilities. 

Auld Lang Syne, 2023– an exciting journey awaits!