I stood there waiting.
And waiting...
For my luggage to drop onto the carousel.
I watched the people around me, waiting too.
Some patiently, some not so much.
The baggage claim at the airport is a fascinating place.
It signifies the end of a trip. The retrieval of our baggage.
All of the stuff that we took with us, and the additional things we bring home.
Souvenirs.
Dirty clothes.
Dirt on our shoes from the places we've been visiting.
Memories of time spent with people we love.
Bags crammed full, ready to be unpacked.
Sometimes it takes me awhile after a trip to fully unpack. I generally put my clothes away shortly after I arrive home, but then there's all of the other stuff to sort through that doesn't have a specific place.
Case in point - I've got a pile on my dresser of things I brought home from the last two trips I took.
A variety of little mementos that hold big memories.
Some good, some bittersweet. All of them triggering feelings.
Baggage to unpack.
Baggage that I had to claim.
The irony of that doesn't escape me.
The stuff we accumulate in life doesn't just randomly get there.
We collect it, we put it in our bags and we bring it home with us.
We decide how long we wait to unpack and sift through the stuff and the feelings that come with it.
The longer we let it sit in the pile without claiming our baggage, the harder it can be to unpack it.
With every trip we take, more life goes into that pile. And feelings start to get buried.
Years can go by without going through it.
We walk past it every day, thinking we'll get to it the next day. Or the next...or the next.
Until finally, on that one trip, without warning, we're standing at the baggage claim with so many bags we can't even carry them all.
You see, the trick is to unpack as we go.
Sort through the piles when they are small. Before things get too heavy.
Touch each souvenir from your trips through life and feel the feels, remember the memories, and then put them away where they belong.
Claim your baggage and all that comes with it.
It's so much easier to carry that way.
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And at our local Oconomowoc Bookstore - Books & Company
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