For the love of the bag... why I have so many

After reading more of the posts on facebook in answer to my who has how many bags question - I was very surprised to find out just how many some people have. Anwers now range from 5 to 70. I know had I kept all the bags over the years I would likely be well into the hundreds by now.If I can't see them.. then I can buy more - well at least that is what my theroy was.

Now for why I buy bags- I think it started back very slowly when I was around 19 years old and going to college. A college friend - who was a great girl named Shawn bought me this FANTASTIC bucket bag, for christmas. I used it everyday to carry my binders and text books. Burgandy - I loved it. I put it under my bed over the summer , and my cat Oreo chewed a hole through it. That fashion trend past and buket bags left the shops. I missed my huge carry everything bag.. but I moved on. And it began the search for the replacement. ( found on ebay in  black 17 years later - now in my collection and use it all the time)

Back then the bags where bought because I loved them or needed them, over time as the hips expanded and tummy grew.. they became the one thing I could buy when shopping for clothes didn't work out so great - they became the only thing that always fit. Needless to say my cupboard filled quickly, and purging to others was like "losing the weight" that had collected. so began the purse diet..
Like many of the yo-yo diets of my life, the number on the purse scale went up and down.

At first, these bags were just cheap walmart bags, little acessory store bags. Then around 1993 - Elsa a girl I worked with bought the most amazing leather bag - and it happened. I went from cheap bag girl - to OMG it cost's more then I make in 3 days purse girl. The canadian designer classic leather bag and orignal messanger bag  designer extrodinaire - Derek Alexander came into my life! I bought the softest most expensive beautiful two tone, nu-buck leather bag I have ever had, touched or seen. ( this also started a crazy "Derek" trend at work all the girls in the group home I worked in, had one.) it cost me somewhere around the $150.00 dollar mark  - remember this was before the "it" bag even existed in my little world, or for that matter on the fashion magazine covers. I also introduced my mom to this designer and she for years only used his bags! They are still available and still ever so soft. I have a Derek wallet in my collection and have given My Darling Friend from Sudbury a couple that she has used for years.

This purse diet continued for a few more years, however the quality of the bags , had changed. Then one day it hit me. Why I was always buying the bags.. this wasn't all that long ago - I have known the root cause for around 5 years now. But the bags  began to take on a new meaning and filled  new needs.. so like any true addiction, the purchasing of the bags began to serve multiple functions.. sad =buy a bag, happy = buy a bag, BFF moves to Sudbury = buy many bags then give them to her on her visits, Other BFF moves to Ireland = (wonder if you stink) then buy more bags - the green bag of yesturdays post was one of many. 

So what brought me here to this moment? Am I ready to stop the "purse yo-yo diet?" Who knows, I am sure going to try. I was inspired to write a blog, by a great book I read. (Julie and Julia by Julie Powell), have been toying with the idea of stopping the bag diet, and since I use the bags as a way to deal with the food I shove in my mouth, well  this now means someone else gets the food that they need, or as it  has evolved the stuff they need.

I also have had a  great year for learning about me, about love, and how even though people you love move away, pass away, change their lives, or are standing right beside me, I don`t  need stuff to insulate me from hurting. I can face it head on - say what needs to be said, and laugh and enjoy the moments with them when I can.

So as I start this `next year` who knows what I will learn, I do know that :

Less  buying of bags = more money in bank = more trips to Sudbury, Ireland and Family Vacations = Happy me.

The purse junkie no more