Check Your Bags

It’s a normal weekday morning as commuters make their way toward the Manhattan skyline filled with grayscale cubicles. The churn of the train hums the seated to sleep while the standing sway; their eyes glazed, not really seeing anything or one that passes them by.
Each stop brings the inlet of hazy air and an exchange of bodies. The meeting of eyes is instantly averted and leads to a quickened pace. The only words spoken are huffs and puffs about being late.
Purses, backpacks, messenger bags, totes, hang prominently from each rider’s shoulder. These shuffle from shoulder to ground as their carriers are sardined into train cars. We haul around these so called necessities day in and day out, filled with so many smaller “just-in-cases”, each in a very specific spot. Most, if not all, of these stay locked in place, never to be seen, a safeguard against the most minimal of possibilities.
Could you imagine a world where we only carried ourselves? One in which we had to look around us and truly notice what was there? Walk slower to allow the time to take it in? Would we match a person’s gaze with intensity, assure they see our worth as we attempt to see theirs, ”just-in-case” we might need one another?
Would we think more of ideas instead of the “possibility” of stuff and things?
I implore you to carry less and see more.

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