Thursday, February 21, 2008

Keep one hand on your sack at all times.


I was sitting by the lake at Versailles, watching families on a Sunday afternoon playing with their dogs and children, when I saw a little girl with a pink handbag frolicking along the edge of the water. She must have been around 7 years old.
I wondered why she had it. Had she asked her parents for it? Had her mother given it to her as a gift to make her feel grownup, or because it was cute? Was it part of a rite of passage?
And what on earth did she put inside of it?
Lip gloss, a mirror, some candy or gum?
Or pencil stubs and shiny trash?

Traveling alone made me very cautious about my belongings. Everything that I needed to survive in a foreign country, and to return safely to my own was in a small bag by my side.
I thought about the awareness created by having a pouch of important things at your hip or on your shoulder.
I think it takes away from your awareness of your physical body and your placement in the world, drawing your focus towards your belongings.
Has anyone called you? Check your phone.
How do you look? Check your mirror. Apply makeup or fix your hair.
How's your breath?
Where's that abm receipt?
How much cash do you have?
Oh no, you looked in your wallet. Will the money flash attract a pickpocket or homicidal vagabond?
Who's behind you?

I noticed that little girl because I felt like she was being robbed of a feeling of freedom that she'd have difficulty getting back. I looked at her and saw her holding an accessory that I felt was the beginning of her being molded into someone else's idea of a woman.

1 comment:

Tomek said...

designing and creating beautiful handbags that women desire, so that they can carry our digital cameras, cigarettes, and wallets is one of the greatest covert victories in the battle of the sexes.

you have nobody to blame but yourselves.