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I have been to multiple conferences or events wherein the keynote or guest speaker tells an inspirational tale and refers to a backpack and its “contents”, prompting the audience to think deeply and strategically about what they would put into the backpack, if they only had a backpack in which to pack all of their possessions in the world.
I have seen the George Clooney movie ‘Up in The Air’, and I do believe, this ‘pack your backpack speech’ originated from him, or at least the writers of the script. I certainly embrace the notion of downsizing the contents of my home, my attic and, more importantly, my purse, and, I, like many other women, have noticed over the years that we have taken this notion of downsizing even one step further to include, carrying only that which can fit IN A POCKET!
I do carry a purse, of course, and will freely admit that my purse (and my wallet) is often over packed, but I prefer, if I can, to only take with me those things I can comfortably — as in minimal bulge displayed — fit in one, or, if I am lucky enough to have two, then both, pockets.
After all, men have been stuffing their important contents into pockets for centuries and have pants and suits and jackets and shirts and even T-shirts galore with pockets built in seamlessly. Women’s clothing is just catching up with more options for clothing coming with pockets like yoga pants, leggings and even bridal gowns.
The point being that, for women, pockets have become a place for storing more than just our chilly hands. Of course, however, not all pockets function the same.
A pocket built into a piece of women’s clothing needs to be sewn correctly in the sense that when a lady sits, the contents of the pocket should not spill out to the ground or onto the chair and be lost or displayed like a set of Hansel and Gretel bread crumbs.
Pockets should be deep enough and long enough to effectively hide their contents and not narrow or short so that a mere tissue, folded neatly, can be seen. Built-in pockets should also not be so abundant in number and space, because, after all, most women will take advantage of our opportunity to fill our pockets and start to resemble warted frogs, with strange bumps all over us. Our pockets need to be smart and effective and concealing, yet easily accessible.
I guess, then, if I had the backpack in front of me and someone said put in only the items you really need, I would opt to leave it and just fill my pockets, since I can often dwindle down the contents of what I REALLY need to just four items: Chap Stick (or lip gloss), a credit card, a tissue and my phone. And if the building was burning down, after making sure my family was safe, (and for all those who truly know me), I would only grab… my Chap Stick!
DIG. DIG.
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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