What’s in your bag?

by Judy Schwartz Haley | Parenting & Family

The bookshelf is the first thing I check out when visiting someone new. It’s utterly fascinating to me what other people read, and often adds depth to my impressions of them.

I’ve recently discovered the “what’s in your bag?” trend, and that has me captured as well. There’s a strange voyeuristic thrill in seeing what other people carry around with them every day. I flip through the photos of items neatly arranged in front of the bag, and it makes me wonder about the people who carry those things around. What are they like? What are their values? Are they tall, short, young, old, extroverted, introverted? Do they use these items every day? Carry them around for just in case? Are these items precious to them? Did they even know what was in their bag before all the items were laid out to be photographed? Did they edit before the picture?

Every once in a while, I see the contents of a bag and think – I want to meet this person! How is that? We are making instant judgments based on the contents of a bag. Still, I find it interesting. And from an anthropological standpoint, I wonder what there is to learn from the averages of our bag contents, as well as the fact that the information is documented in the first place.   How will this inform future generations about what life is like in our world today?

Since, I’m peeking in other bags – here’s what’s in my bag.

and here’s what’s in my little girl’s bag

What’s in your bag?