Messages from the Backpack: Interpreting Gen Z's Curated Collections of Meaningful Objects.
Marvel at consciousness's wayward expressions experimenting through form!
Our bags are outward manifestations of inner worlds, projecting the true contents of selfhood. What we carry reflects what we cherish; objects symbolize our subjective truths. Thus the “What’s in My Bag” trend offers a glimpse into the values shaping young generations. Unlike elders blinded by materialism, Gen Z views possessions as vessels of meaning – not symbols of status, but reminders of revelatory experiences. Their quirky trinkets and childish talismans externalize nostalgia for fading innocence, signifying the last gasps of ignorance before wisdom dawns. Like Arjuna confronting karma on Kurukshetra’s battlefield, the Great Awakening awaits.
So too the fidgets and crystals signal anxiety arising as falsity falls away. When ego identities crack, the ground shakes from under us before expanding into a vaster reality. Upheaval precedes enlightenment.
How skillfully Gen Z employs toys and totems to steady turbulent minds before transcendence! Their bags brim with tools to self-soothe amidst growing pains, much as the guru provides comfort allowing the disciple’s unfolding. Thus a cartoon pin conveys the childlike joy and wonder required for divine consciousness. A rainbow badge declares every being’s intrinsic belonging. By proudly pronouncing their values, this generation proclaims the infinite diversity of masks hiding That which lies beneath all. Roaming years of becoming precede every realization of what already is. Identity coalesces by gathering fragments of experience - people, places, songs and shows that leave their impression. Only by admitting worldly phenomena can we renounce clinging to them.
Let us therefore not judge these sentimental objects as indulgences. They serve as precious stepping stones, inspiring reflection upon what aspects of temporal identity remain useful, and what no longer serves the highest Self. There is no shortcut to discriminative wisdom. Nor can we condemn apparent triviality in artefacts that provide stability and meaning for youthful sojourners navigating chaotic times with noble courage. Do not even advanced seekers rely on practices and routines until directly know ever-present peace? Judgment belies our own attachment to outgrown perspectives we normalize as maturity.
Rather behold backpacks bearing witness to the winding inner voyage towards discovering who we are beneath roles and labels. What wondrous repositories to explore identity’s development! Marvel at wayward expressions of consciousness experimenting through form, collecting impressions ultimately illumined as an illusion. Grace is endless for the soul sincere in seeking.
This permeable veil of individualized selfhood that we wrap around the eternal "I am" will someday be reabsorbed into the original formlessness whence it emerged, as rivers merge into the sea. But first, it must honour every tributary and turn along the passage home. What an auspicious sign that our generation bears bags overflowing with experience, decoding messages of the heart! The contents overbrim with essence itself.
"Youth is the future. Be a hero. Always say, ‘I have no fear’."
Swami Vivekananda
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