The Difference Between Baggage and Luggage
Someone once described forgiveness to me like this.
“You wake up every day, get up and go out into the world. If you are suffering because of the acts of others, then you have to pick up those bags, full of all of those burdens, and carry them around with you all day long, every step of the way. The bigger the hurt, the heavier the bags. Then as the bags become lighter, you are beginning to forgive. Then one day, you feel as light as a feather and that is when you have learned to forgive.”
I have always loved this analogy. Whether forgiveness is a conscious act or just the passage of time that, as the cliché says, heals all wounds, it is all about one’s ability to just say no to bitterness and becoming a jaded old, hateful hag.
That’s a great description of baggage!
Then there’s luggage!!!
I love luggage. Whether I need any or not, the luggage aisle always makes me happy. Luggage is generally packed full of excitement, anticipation and the promise of something new and fun. For someone who was born with a heavy dose of wanderlust, the thought of exploring new places and reveling in the colors of the culture, smells of the cuisine, the sounds of the people, and the smiles on their faces, a suitcase is my favorite enabling object of desire.
I can still see a plane and it’s contrails on a blue sky day and wonder where it’s going. I imagine it being a fabulous place, although it could have a lousy destination. What good is a fantasy, if you are going to end up dealing in reality, right? It’s just a child’s game I used to play in my head, long before anyone traveled to faraway places. I find myself so full of wonderment about our planet, without borders, like the astronauts see. My exhilaration of packing to go somewhere is compounded by my neurosis of all of the things that can go wrong while traveling, which I will not mention, because none are good and none have ever come to fruition. That’s why we call it neurosis. I own my crazy and make no apologies for it. For me, it’s a part of the process of packing and I have to wrestle with that voice that brings all that negativity. Wanderlust always wins and as soon as I am in the car or at the airport, my neurosis has dissipated like a fog burned off by the light.
That’s why I love luggage!!
Baggage and luggage have basically the same definition, but the connotations are vastly different. They are two sides of the same coin. One for traveling and one for moving on. Both have their place.
I had an epiphany at a stoplight this week. It was a shock and a surprise to realize that I had not given any thought or consideration to the baggage I had been dragging around with me for a while. I had not been “thinking” about situations that brought me sadness. I was just getting up and going through life without picking up the bags. They are just not there any longer.
Now, it’s time for some luggage!!