The baggage you carry

Moving so far away from home has the wonderful advantage of being a clean slate. In this new place you have an opportunity to start fresh with no baggage. Well, no baggage that other people can see.

Although the people we meet when abroad don't know our past, we carry it in a luggage with us. That's the funny thing in life, we can try and change everything on the exterior but it will soon replicate what we would normally consider home. From the friends we attract to the people we work with. Why? Because life loves us and wants us to grow and evolve, no matter how stubborn we are.

And in this luggage we so kindly take with us where everywhere we go, includes a special feeling of home; a sentiment of comfort and safety. Sometimes we only want to look into that section of our luggage, we forget all the reasons we wanted to move and remember the wonderful things of home: the people, the food, the weather, the feeling. It is as if when you open this section a light shines into your heart, leaves a warm sensation and a sweet taste in your mouth – it’s a taster of what your life could be.

When you move, every once in a while, we want to hold onto this sentiment. Sometimes, we treat it like a rock we are super-glued too and start to feel a bit out of place and fall into home-sickness. Other times, this luggage starts to weigh because you realize you are still you. Turns out that moving continents won’t make your life perfect (darn it!) and solve all your problems. In-fact, it actually just gets harder. At least when you have your problems at home, you have the comfort of your friends and family by your side – not always the case when you move.

So, what do you with this luggage to stop it weighing you down?

You open it, you look inside and you see everything that you have been carrying around with you. You can only clean out a wardrobe that is overflowing with things by going through it, right? It’s the same with this baggage.

You have to let go of the memories, the past and take them out. This way you can create room for more wonderful things in your life. You have to get to the bottom of the luggage and remove that rusty insecurity that had been following you around since the age of seven. You realize it’s time to leave it behind.

When you move, sooner or later, you realize you are still the exact same person except in a wholly new environment. Yes, it’s a fresh start and things often become clearer, but with it comes the courage to open that luggage and clear out, so that we can grow out of our insecurities and fears into beautiful beings of light.