What are three objects you couldn’t live without?
The thoughts going through my mind right now!! At one point I am confident, the dog would’ve made the cut. Then, again, he was never an object, he was a pup even when he was 11 years old. Maybe my bag, since it contains anything and everything I really need all the time. But that’s a relatively recent development. I started carrying a bag, voluntarily only after the kids came around. And. Now, it’s lugged around more out of habit than anything. But when the teenagers ask for random stuff at inopportune moments, I’m glad that bag is around. Sanitisers, wet wipes, tissues, pads, pins, spare clothes, jackets, shawls, shades, writing instruments, bits of paper, chewing gum, peppermints, joint rubs or ointments, muscle binds, kinesiology tapes, I seem to have random things in it. The size of the bag is limited else I could possible accommodate a lot more in it. During college, I used to carry 3 books to read, apart from my course material and notes and the Walkman, borrowed from the younger sibling, art supplies, colour pencils or crayons, to doodle around with, lunch box from home, my navy blue school sweater- I got it when I was in high school and it lasted more than seven years. It never got washed because I only had the one winter wear. While at work, I started carrying the tiny handbags, because they were the fashionable thing to do. And then I tried the hobo bags and those hold-all’s but I’ve found nothing can quite replace the efficiency and comfort of a good backpack. So, I’m now back to alternating between a sling bag and a backpack. Depending on the destination and the climate the bag is suitably filled and hence- sustainable. My bags, whichever is the flavour of the month hangs in a stand by the door and all of them have the basics, the wallet and headphones and device are the only things that come out and move around.
Of late, the role of the chaperone mum has taken precedence and the destination is an hours drive away on a good-no-traffic day. This trip usually has me carrying my three important objects around: device, bag and jacket.
Device- I’ve just about moved my preferences online, so my book, favourite movies, music is all on the cloud. So a device to access that. Maybe one way communication with the cloud, so I can access it, assuming I cannot use the conversation apps to converse with friends and family.
Bag- like I mentioned earlier and the contents obviously depends on the destination. But they are usually filled with what I consider at that point to be my basics.
Jacket- warmth trumps anything for me. For some reason my body fat does not insulate. I remember waiting for the longest time to put on weight hoping it would help insulate me. Now that I have and realised that it does not really insulate me, I may as well work at losing it, since it’s just a waste of effort to carry it around. The jacket has to have pockets. There are something’s that have to be accessible and the jacket has to be able to house that as well.
My objects usually will have tons of pockets or compartments. I like keeping things organised and accessible, so my bag usually has pouches that contain all my stuff. My jacket will have pockets, my mobile cover will have pockets. I can’t stress enough about what I must have and what can be missed. The pockets in the phone cover, jacket or bag is always non negotiable. Even the siblings who usually give me gifts, find ones with pockets, because there’s nothing worse than giving me a gift I cannot use. I never let you live it down!!
Just a little more 