If you’ve got a bag of bags, read this
When I say, “bag lady” what comes to mind? For me, it was always an image of a woman unmoored, without a home, weighed down by her belongings.
I’m not interested in that version anymore.
I’m interested in the woman who carries. Who holds. Who prepares. Who keeps what matters.
Recently, I was working with a woman whose life requires her to be very mobile. She works in a caregiving profession, moves between short- and long-term stays, and loves to travel when she can.
As we went through her belongings together, one category stood out more than any other: Bags!
Totes. Purses. Grocery bags. Canvas bags. Ziplocks. Suitcases. Backpacks. Bags inside of bags inside of bags.
She owns a home and yet, everywhere we looked, there was evidence of readiness. Preparedness. Portability. The ability to move quickly if needed.
In other words, she was a bag lady.
Not in the way we’re taught to fear, but in the way women have always adapted.
As we decluttered and organized for her next chapter, the insight wasn’t “get rid of the bags.” It was: recognize the role they’ve been playing.
Bags are about care. They’re about holding what you might need for yourself or for others. They’re about being ready. The work isn’t to feel ashamed of the Bag Lady, it’s to embrace her.
Be the nomad. Be the one who knows how to gather and go.
But also be the woman who knows her worth.
The point isn’t to hold onto every bag. It’s to hold onto the right ones.
Let go of the ripped ones, the ones with the wrong pocket layout, the ones you bought for that one event that has passed.
Keep the ones that make sense for your life now. Keep the ones that make you feel capable or chic. Keep the ones that make you smile or laugh when you reach for them!
