the thing about baggage is that it travels very well,

and along its many journeys, it writes stories it can tell.

as carefully as you pack it up

it often becomes messy;

things do not remain where they were when you got them ready.

the thing about baggage is that the cleaner that you keep it

the lesser that it's traveled and the longer that you need it.

as time and distance weather it,

your baggage becomes lighter;

you learn to travel with your needs and zip it up much tighter.

you will notice that with your baggage that the farther that it's carried,

the kind of things you keep inside will begin to vary,

maybe it can contain less,

maybe it grows stronger,

maybe it has lost a wheel and can't be pulled much longer.

maybe you're late to your flight when your baggage just bursts open,

and all the things you worked so hard to pack away are showing,

you quickly pick your baggage up,

you feel like you're embarrassed,

but you're not the only person in the airport to unintentionally bare it.

the other thing about our baggage is that it's not ours on our own,

we let our loved ones take the handle when we are heading home,

and strangers sometimes take our baggage

to places where we can't see it

we may not know the reason or know how they're going to treat it.

at times we lose a piece of what we kept inside our suitcase,

sometimes that item being lost forces you into a new place,

unprepared and overwhelmed

in foreign territories,

take that weathered, messy baggage and keep writing its stories.