A Bag of Tricks

A woman’s purse can tell you a lot about her.

I just happened to look, I mean really look, through mine on the drive home this afternoon on a search for a pen. I was surprised by its contents.

• A Marie Curie biography
• A pink phone
• A writers notebook
• A pack of tic-tacs and gum
• Cash flowing freely
• A hotel key card
• A monogrammed headband
• A dance workout DVD
• RayBan sunglasses
• A wallet (which is apparently useless given the cash strewn throughout)

I am a person who carries a trendy phone, chic headband, fad workout DVD but also attaches herself to a Marie Curie biography and a writing notebook in which I write in at red lights and bathroom breaks. These appear to be contradictory in the projected media of millennials (though I hate that term). Am I a hipster? A nerd? A prep? A cowgirl? I don’t know that I fit any of these.

My purse says a lot, I mean, clearly, I am a hoarder of random sorts. I carry around a suitcase type of purse, a Mary Poppins bag that holds secrets and scavenger hunts. I think that the contents of my purse can speak metaphorically for numerous areas in my life.

In one short drive I will rock out to Journey and Bon Jovi (yes you can do that), serenade myself to Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion, pull out my deepest country twang to Brooks and Dunn and George Strait, and also (embarrassingly) go hoarse from Justin Bieber and Katy Perry.

I enjoy a downtown night at Gibson’s with a $300 tab for 2. I will drink fine wine and aged whisky. I will also get down with the neighborhood plumbers, carpenters, electricians, and contractors slingin’ Bud Lights and munching cheese fries like a boss.

I love Marie Curie biographies but I also, seriously, with my whole heart, love Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I lose myself in endless episodes of Married at First Sight. I also swirl the ideas of Maslow and Piaget into my daily conversations (with the plumbers and carpenters, of course).

The same pattern follows for politicians, religion, the economy, the education system, prison sentences, gun control, etc.

What does this mean for me? Am I 2 (or 16) different people? Am I one person with a super awesome array of interests and ideas? Is there something wrong with me for being interested and developed in endless areas of life, or is this a blessing? I’m going to go with the same sentiment from yesterday – parts of me are awesome!