Being a Bag Lady: The Heavy Purse Conundrum

I've been carrying a bag or purse for as long as I can remember. As a young girl, I wanted to carry a purse because my mom did, and I felt that carrying a purse would make me a real woman, an adult. I have vague memories of trying to fill my "purses" when I was younger--before I had a wallet, or even an ID card. I would pick out random things from my room, chapstick, a few dollar bills, a pen, maybe a keychain with no keys attached, whatever I could find that I "needed" to have with me so that I could justify carrying a purse. Ahhhh, how I wish for those days again...

I am now a TOTAL bag lady, and I've been one for quite a while. Most of my friends are bag ladies, too, and when I look around on the metro or on the streets of DC, I would have to say that most modern women have become bag ladies--but I'm just not sure how it happened. Must-haves for my purse on a daily basis? Wallet (somehow gotten pretty heavy), planner (fairly large), water bottle, keys, iPhone, iPod, snack of some kind (just in case!), gum, make-up basics, kindle or current book, glasses, and sunglasses. And those are just my my must-haves. THEN you add on my little bag of teaching supplies, or my yoga mat, or a change of clothes, or notes for a meeting, or a cardigan, and I've become a double-bag lady. Same with all my friends who work full-time jobs and then go to the gym or to yoga after work--they too, are double-bag ladies. Then sometimes a lunch is added, or a laptop (which doubles the load), and my point, by listing all of the crazy things that we carry around with us is this: what about our bodies?

What about our shoulders, our neck, our back? Sure, our bodies are strong and were made to carry things, but were they made to carry 5-8 lbs on the exact same shoulder day after day? Think about what that does to your alignment, your posture, your musculature? And not only are there physical side-effects to these heavy bags, but there are mental side-effects too! What about the mental stress of carrying around all of that baggage? I know that I get a lot more flustered, tense, and annoyed when I'm trying to make my way onto a crowded metro carrying two large bags and a yoga mat, while also hoping to find a way to put one of my bags onto the floor to save my shoulder the excess weight--it's just not relaxing. Similarly, the last time I got a massage the therapist could tell which side of my body I carried my bags on, and as someone who touches a lot of shoulders in my classes each day (usually reminding my students to relax their shoulders down the back), I can tell you that women today have some TIGHT shoulders.

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I don't know how to put an end to it, and I hate to admit it, but I recently purchased an even larger purse/bag in order to downsize from 2 bags to 1 (seemed like a good idea at the time...?), so I know that I haven't found the answer yet. My stepmom has, but she had to retire in order to do so (the last time I saw her she had this TINY purse--she has always been the queen of large bags--and she said, "now that I'm not working, I don't need to carry anything around with me except my wallet!").

So what to do? They say that the large bag trend is dropping, that in 2010 our purses were 57% lighter than they were in 2007 (the height of the big bag trend), but I don't see that happening. Sure, smaller purses may be in, but we still have to carry all of our baggage to work or around the city with us. We may grab a small clutch when we head out to dinner, but we're still lugging our laptops and gym bags on a daily basis.

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Personally, I guess I'm going to try to take baby steps. I'm going to attempt at being more conscientious of my body when I grab my purse each day. Maybe glance back through it to see if there's anything else I can take out before I head out in the mornings, and at least try to keep things even on both sides. When I started writing this today, I went to snap a picture of what was in my purse from last night, and I was horrified when I started pulling stuff out. I am not kidding when I say that this is EXACTLY what came out:

You can't tell, but these things are HEAVY. The pink clipboard is filled with papers, the Nike Track bag is filled with little bottles for teaching--lavender aromatherapy spray, massage oil, hand sanitizer, meditation bowl, etc.--and yes, that large water bottle is halfway full of water. Can we say BAGGAGE?

Um, yeah. I think I could stand to make a change. 

My challenge to you? Do what I just did. Pull everything out and reevaluate. I can guarantee that after seeing what was in there, not all of that is going back into my purse. And if it does, lord help me...

Namaste!
Mary Catherine