In a previous post I talked about being a fan of Leo Babauta's Zen Habits. He now has a new blog and stumbling across it today could not have been more timely.  As part of this month's evaluation, I'm looking at the mundane (why do I let dishes pile up in the sink?) to the critical (what's stopping me from doing what I really want to do). What I"m addressing here and in the attached picture is the mundane.  You see I'm a bag lady.

 

I would say that I'm carrying an extra 15 lbs of stuff with me everyday to work.  The three bags you're looking at are really four, there is a "food bag" stuffed inside the big blue bag, you just don't see it.  Of course I have justification for everything.  Some are good like bringing lunch is cheaper than buying lunch out ever day, then some are well, lame like I have these documents in my tote because someone may call and ask me about them, they're not safe at home, yada yada yada.  

 

So how did the bag situation drop into the evaluation pile? I looked at my weekend habits and found that I quite enjoyed the freedom of not having all that weight on me. Unless I have a meeting I carry a small purse and I mean enough for a phone, wallet, gum, chapstick, paper and pen.  Some weekends I don't even carry that. I put the phone in my pocket and carry a "change purse" which holds money, license, chapstick, lotion and the almighty gum. This items is about the size of the palm of my hand.

 

What would I like to happen? I'd like to get closer to my weekend approach to carrying and move away from all this STUFF, I just don't know how practical/doable it is.  I'm certainly open to suggestions.