when life is reduced to 3 suitcases

I am a product of my culture.
I am a product of my consumerist culture.

When I packed for The Move in August of 2009, I didn't realize how much of a consumer I was. I figured it out when I returned at Christmas. By that time, I'd been in Nigeria 4 months: enough time to still be at the tail end of the honeymoon phase and enough time to have gained a different perspective.

The reality of my own consumerism stared me in the face in December: a freestanding plastic drawer unit shoved in a closet, packed with "stuff." Stuff I rarely used, stuff I obviously didn't need in Africa, stuff that didn't matter. It made me sad, honestly. Because I lived on so much less in Nigeria, I was embarrassed to keep evidence of my excess.

Armed with that new perspective, I realized that moving to Africa is something akin to pulling the fire alarm and having 30 seconds to grab valuables before bolting. Which is not to say that material things don't matter...it's just a matter of which ones and how much.

Condensing all you own to 3 suitcases and a carry-on shows you what matters. It's a very healthy exercise, and I highly recommend it! Healthy exercises are never easy, though, so I also recommend a level-headed neutral party to ask the difficult questions. In my case, it was a dear friend who once reduced her life to one duffel bag and a backpack for several months in India. My neutral party was experienced and wise. Below is what she helped me discover.


Things That Seem To Matter But Don't, In The End:

- Food. I didn't know what to expect in Nigeria, and felt safer bringing my own (I did not expect to love it!).
But food is representative of something much more significant. In a way, the food you eat represents the customs you cling to. Having it meant some sense of stability--sameness--in the midst of what I knew would be a radically different world. In some ways, it was good to maintain some semblance of normalcy, but if I embraced the change in other areas of my life, I wonder why I spent so much effort trying to keep this the same.
Of the "stuff" you're keeping, which are relics of an 'old life' you might be trying to maintain, one that is ultimately unnecessary? Which items would be sufficient reminders of how it used to be? Keep a couple. Purge the rest.

- Jewelry/Accessories. I stuck to the bare minimum. No need to be flashy and outrageous in addition to being the new white girl, I thought. I brought functional pieces: watch, stud earrings, hair barrettes, etc. I brought my ring, too, which is not functional, unless one wants to give the impression they are married. Which may or may not have been helpful a couple of instances in the past 10 months. :)
Jewelry, too, is symbolic. It represents the standard of living you enjoy. (This does not apply to heirloom pieces, of course.) I did not bring my Tiffany bracelet or my Dooney & Burke handbag; I felt no need to give the impression that I'm someone who requires fine things. Are there things you're keeping that exist simply to show your status? And is that status truly something you want to project?

- Entertainment. Because I was unsure of the time/facilities available in Nigeria, I chose to leave behind my favorite books and DVDs in August. If you know me even a little, you can imagine how difficult that was for me. I put my favorite movie on my iPod... a "desperate times" decision.
Entertainment, for me, represents comfort and enjoyment. Call me a Lit teacher, but there's just something about curling up with a good book on a dreary day. Call me a Millennial, but there's just something about laughing together with friends over a movie. Keeping one movie with me was not about entertainment, it was a coping mechanism. Again, it comes down to excess: at what point is enough truly enough? Are your entertainments coping mechanisms or might they keep you from establishing relationships with others?


Things I Discovered Truly Mattered:

- Well-being. You honestly cannot put a price on health. My vitamins and supplements were absolutely necessary, and activated charcoal has saved me on a number of occasions!
- Friends and family. Bringing reminders of the people I love was an important step in helping me feel connected to them from thousands of miles away.
- Security. Everything from snatch-proof purses to headlamps to water filters to battery back-up for when the electricity is off falls under the category of making life not just livable, but safe as well.


You don't have to pack your life into 3 suitcases and a carry-on to get a new perspective. When it comes to "stuff," taking a step back helps us define what is necessary and what is excess. That may sound elementary, but I think we lose sight of it very easily.

And yes, I am my mother's daughter.