Why the Suitcase?

So, why the suitcase? Why did I have a photo shoot with a suitcase?

Why did I contact my photographer and specifically ask for a suitcase photo shoot?

The word “unpacking” came from one of my clients. I was speaking to a client I had worked with, and she asked me:

“Ife, would you come and speak on the panel for my book launch? And I’d like you to talk about unpacking your story.” And I said: “Oh, I love that. Unpacking.”

And then I started thinking about what unpacking actually means. I started thinking about Louise Hay and the way she talks about letting go. Her concept is different from my concept of unpacking, but there is something that really resonated with me.

In You Can Heal Your Life, she talks about the idea of going into some old drawers in your house. You open the drawer and you start looking at the things that are in there.

And you ask yourself:

Do I still need this?

Does this still serve me?

Do these beliefs still serve me?

Do these thoughts still serve me?

And sometimes, when we start looking back over our lives, we can become very precious about what we’ve been through.

We can become sensitive about the mistakes we’ve made and the things we’ve done and haven’t done or wish we’d done differently.

But the idea is that you don’t have to look at those things with anger or upset. You can just look at them like you’re looking through an old drawer.

There are things in that drawer that you’re going to keep. And there are things that you’re not. And you can say: “Does this still serve me?”

And if it doesn’t, you can put it in a box, take it out of your house and stop holding onto it.

You don’t have to possess it anymore.

And I think storytelling is a bit like that.

But what we do when we unpack your story is slightly different. We actually look for all the things in your story that reinforce your greatness. We look at what made you who and how far you’ve come. We look at the experiences that shaped you and want you want to keep. And the things that we’re not so sure we want to keep? We look at them with compassion. We don’t have to pretend they didn’t happen or be angry about them.

We can simply say:

“Okay. I understand that now.”

“I understand that was part of the story.”

“But it doesn’t have to be what I take with me.” And that’s where the suitcase came from. When I think about how I work with someone’s story, it’s almost like you bring your full suitcase with you.

We unzip it, pull everything out and look at everything that’s in there. And then we start putting things back in the case.

The things that make sense and tie together where you’ve been and where you’re going.

The things that you’re happy to take with you into the next chapter of your life.

But anything that doesn’t serve you anymore? We leave it out on the floor.

That’s why I went and had a photo shoot with a suitcase. At the time, I was thinking about building something around this idea.

It’s still in the process.

I’m still thinking about what this could become and whether it’s something I can fully talk about yet.

But for now, I’m sitting with the question.

And perhaps you can sit with it too.

What have you been carrying around with you in your suitcase that no longer serves you?

What do you need to unpack? And what are you ready to leave behind? Maybe it’s time to unzip the case and take everything out.

And decide what you’re actually taking with you into the next chapter.

 

Photograph 📸 by Stralite Photography

- Maxwell Israel