About me: My name is Johanna, but most people call me Jo. I am in my mid 40’s and live in Ottawa with two very energetic but loving daughters (aged 6 and 8) and two boy cats who are very therapeutic when said daughters get into mischief. I am instructional designer in the air navigation field.
The contents of my bag seem to capture my current reality of chaos intertwined with nostalgia.
Although I might present as overall “put together” my bag would betray me and say otherwise. My day-to-day pandemic life involves working from home and then rushing to drive kids, run errands, etc. Arriving everywhere late or at the absolute last minute. The deodorant, loose make-up pieces, are my attempt to look someone decent before I get out of the car. The make up brand printed in text on the individual pieces is the least expensive you can buy at Shopper’s Drug Mart because I constantly lose stuff or forget my cosmetic bag and therefore keep rebuying everything.
There is ONE earring that I can’t wear as I am missing the other one. Also shown, is part of a wrapper from a chocolate bar that I had for breakfast with a coffee I picked up on the way back from dropping off my kids at school. There are loose cards because I took them out of my wallet to fit in a small clutch and never bothered to put them back. You can see the mask I never wear as it has been “marinating” in the dirty bottom of the purse and I have yet to take it out and wash it. A broken earbud is strewn about, I use it to listen to podcasts while I multi-task or music when I want to connect to disconnect.
The nostalgia part relates to the much needed and healing vacation I took three weeks ago. In doing this assignment I see that I have been holding on to remnants from this trip, maybe to postpone a full reintegration to new normal. There is a credit card receipt from a shoe store. The date and time-stamp instantly transport me to that day, as I walked aimlessly and carefree in Spain and stopped to buy sandals. You can see a couple of rocks that I picked up at a vineyard. It was such a perfect day that I needed a tangible object to hold as a way to physically feel my presence and gratitude in the moment.
Not shown (because I used it as is a camera), is my phone and the most important item that encompasses my relation to text technology. My phone connects me to every part of my life via a text interface. I use my phone to work, to pay for everything, to socialize, to schedule, to research, to retain data, to process information, to predict outcomes and make decision.
Should archeologist come across my untouched bag in a distant future perhaps their overall impression of its contents would be: “interesting, random and messy”, and that would be fair.
Hello, Johanna!
Your discovery of past items reminded me of the time I found a backpack that I had used several years ago for travel. It was also filled with memories that took me back in time.
It is interesting to see that so many people carry around items that no longer serve a purpose yet we still feel the need to hold on to them.
Do you feel the impression from the contents of your bag is a fair representation of who you are? Are there some misleading elements?