There are objects I find hard to let go of without really knowing why. My compact green bag is one of them. It folds into the tiniest little bundle, almost like a keychain, but when you open it, a small miracle happens: everything fits inside.
That bag has gone everywhere with me. To El Tepe in Querétaro, where it was filled with vegetables or seeds from the mill. To the Casa Ley in Puerto Vallarta, full of ice, sunscreen, and groceries.
Now it comes with me to Aurrerá, to the naturist supermarket on Balderas, to the 3B on Morelos. It can’t take much more. Its handles are about to tear, and it’s becoming more transparent every day. Even so, I cling to carrying it with me, to not throwing it away. I’ve bought other similar ones, but none of them sits right with me the way this one does.
Today I washed it. And while it was drying, I thought that maybe I don’t want to get rid of the bag, but of the idea that the things that accompany us for so long can simply be replaced, just like that.
Photography by Larren Lee // Dev/Scan at Foto Hércules
