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| And he looks like he's headed to shop for more! |
The premise is this: You are going on a rocket ship to
somewhere in another galaxy. You will be provided with whatever you need in the
way of food and clothing. You may bring along only ten items and those must fit
in the backpack provided.
I first thought about this trip in some random book of
science fiction I read in my early twenties. This was way before the computer
age. At that time I had relatively few possessions. I think I filled my
backpack with some of my favorite books, a scarf I loved and still have today,
what else? I don’t remember. What I do remember is the “only ten items”. I
think the backpack bit has added itself to my memory: we weren‘t really using
backpacks in the 60’s. Oh yes – I do remember that it was important to me to
take my eyeglasses. It’s still important to me. I have to see!
Think about it: what material objects are important to you?
What would you bring? Favorite books, family pictures, the first thing you
bought with your own money, your wedding ring? Would you bring your laptop
computer and all you’ve saved on it? Would the battery last? Maybe electronic
things wouldn’t be suitable to bring along.
The characters in most historic fiction, which usually
reflects historic fact, had few possessions unless they were royalty and had
trunks full of stuff. If disaster struck and they lost everything, they lost
little. Or it seems that way in the books. Many had just the clothes on their
backs, with maybe an extra tunic or dress for festive days, and what could fit
in a purse or scrip. Folks had little in the way of material things to pass on
to their children.
Though there are societies in this modern world that still
live so simply, it is simple to say that our own times and needs have changed.
Indeed they have, and for the better, but today we seem to have too much. That
backpack has to get bigger. Our parents passed on just a few precious things to
us, and we have those things and even more to pass on in turn to our own children.
Is it all stuff really that important? Our own stuff has accumulated over the
years, and the kids are acquiring stuff every day. Eventually, their stuff will have stuff. Perhaps we should pass on the problem
by giving them some of our stuff now, before we are possessed by our
possessions.
While all of us do have some very nice things, we know that
we could very easily do without most of them. We can look around our homes and
do some creative triage: what can go to make our lives simpler, and what is
important enough to fit in that “backpack”. You might want to document those
important items on a bequest list. Let the future recipients know who gets
what, the history of the items, and why they are especially important to you.
In centuries gone
by, what most people could hope to pass on was a set of traditions and
moral codes and, for the lucky ones, a home place and the knowledge of family
history. This is as important to families today as it was then. What’s in your backpack? Think about it.
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