In the handbag of life, we carry many things with us.  Some because we need them to survive and other items because we simply cannot let  go of them yet. After much reflection, I’ve decided to unpack my handbag of life and discover what exactly are the things we carry…

There’s the coin purse of family and friends and the wallet to hold the odd balls that are too big to fit into the purse and the card holder to hold those who are always there when we need a safety net to tide us over till we can pay our debts.

Then come the lipsticks and makeup compacts of life. These are the people who add just the right amount of sparkles and pep to our days. It’s these people who (just by sitting in their company) can make a drab day fab… So your best friends or as I  personally like to call them my red lipsticks. They complete any day.

But sometimes you’ll pull out a mirror instead of a lipstick. This is the person or memories that constantly show you your past and the scars within. But the more you stare at them the more you see your own natural beauty shining and yourself getting stronger.

So you’ll pop out your sunglasses and they’ll shield you from the nastiness until you’re strong enough to handle the light of life on your own. These are the hugs we desperately cling to and the arms of loved ones who won’t let us go either. The sunglasses are honestly my favorite thing to carry besides the red lipsticks.

Tissues. Some dirty and some neatly folded. The dirty ones are crumpled and used. They were part of your weakest and most upsetting moments but you just don’t have the energy to throw them out yet. The little neat, folded ones are your attempts at preempting future weaknesses so they won’t catch you by surprise but surprises come in all forms and these folded ones rarely come in handy.

For those of us who enjoy storing details of every day away we have our little notebooks to write every moment of every day into. Only to reread it again every night before we fall asleep to try and sort out the mess of the day that has passed. And, heaven forbid we forget our cellphones. These tiny hand held connections to people and places who are so close but so far. It’s the reminder and connecting pieces to friends far away and family we yearn to be with.

And finally, there’s little knickknacks that we pick up from random places. Cute things that comfort us. Momentary friendships and passing crushes. Affections and attachments to insignificant things that make us feel unique.

Piled together, it’s all just silly nonsensical stuff but every day we’ll pick them up, pack them into the little satchel we label “our life”, lug it up onto our back and carry it with us…

Filing my satchel,

Brokebella