What’s in a Label…Oh! And How to Travel a Little Lighter
“I would like to travel light on this journey of life, to get rid of the encumbrances I acquire each day…The most difficult thing to let go is my self, that self which, coddled and cozened, becomes smaller as it becomes heavier.””
Running faster than we thought we were capable, we made it to the correct platform just as the whistle started blowing, letting people know the train was about to roll away.
Somehow we managed to lift our last suitcase and get our feet planted on the train steps before the last whistle blew and the train lurched forward toward its destination.
We had landed at the Prague airport earlier that day expecting to be driven directly to our final destination about an hour or so away from the airport.
However, due to a "series of unfortunate events," including our mode of transportation breaking down on the side of a very busy motorway, we ended up having to take a crowded taxi to the train station located in the city's center. We had brought so much luggage that we very nearly had to hire a separate taxi just for our cargo.
Once we arrived at the main train station, we had to lug our American-sized suitcases up and down several flights of stairs while we were also trying to navigate the more-than-a-little crowded "Hlavni Nadrazi."
It was summer so EVERYONE was traveling, and this particular train station in Prague tends to be a hub, being right in the heart of Europe.
We had been struggling to stay together as a group while we navigated the station, narrowly dodging other weary travelers moving with the same amount of urgency to find their own platforms and trains.
It was my first time traveling abroad EVER, and while some of our party of 7 had traveled before, most of us were clueless, and so we navigated this situation while carrying the weights of inexperience, jet-lag, unmet expectations, and overly-packed luggage.
But we made it to our train. Barely.
After this ordeal, we all vowed to "pack lighter next time."
Thankfully, there was a next time for my husband and I, at least. This first foreign-travel adventure of ours led to several more travel opportunities, and with each subsequent trip, the lighter we packed.
Experience, being the wise teacher it is, we found that the more we traveled, the less we needed to carry, the less we WANTED to carry. The lighter we packed, the easier it was to explore and take advantage of joy-filled, spontaneous moments along the road.
There truly is freedom in traveling light, as cliché as that sounds.
But I am learning just how true that is in life as well.
So what is it exactly that weighs us down so much? Can we travel lighter on our life's journey, or are we doomed to carry this proverbial weight for our entire lives?
I've been asking those questions lately, and here's what I'm learning.
While there are a great many things that weigh us down in life, I'm learning that some of the heaviest things we carry are the labels, names, and titles we collect along the way.
Some we give ourselves, and some are bestowed upon us by others.
Either way, we choose to bear them like badges of honor and sometimes dishonor.
They become our entire identity to the point that it begins to feel like separating ourselves from them will mean certain death.
And it's not so much the titles themselves that weigh us down. It's the assumptions and expectations, spoken or not, surrounding those titles. These assumptions and expectations bury us under a crushing weight.
In my 38 years of life, I've carried a lot of labels, names, and titles.
I've held the titles of preacher's kid, Christian, classroom teacher, worship leader, expat, and missionary.
I carry the weight of being called mom, wife, daughter, and granddaughter.
I've been labeled "liberal," "conservative," "goody-two-shoes," "the sweet and quiet one," and "Enneagram 9."
You're probably starting to formulate your own assumptions and expectations about me based on this list alone.
And those expectations, I feel them. And They. Are. Heavy.
I have believed the lie I had to carry them all. Every title and label given to me, I tucked away in my travel sack. Along with every ensuing expectation and assumption connected to them.
Whether bestowed upon me or self-imposed, I've carried them because I thought I had to.
But I can't carry them all; I'm not meant to, and I don't want to. Not anymore.
I'm learning that I have some choice in what I choose to carry.
Because I've experienced the freedom of traveling lighter, I'm choosing to shed some more weight. Perhaps, a good place to start would be to take a long, hard look at these labels, names, and titles--and perhaps some of those expectations surrounding them as well.
I'm learning that I have a choice in what I choose to carry.
Perhaps there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, we get to choose what we carry.
Perhaps you feel the weight of expectation from your own set of names, labels, and titles. Perhaps, like me, for far too long, you've chosen to carry them all whether you've got room in your backpack or not.
And maybe you have been, or perhaps you've just begun, to sense the full weight of it all.
Perhaps you're just becoming aware of your own exhaustion, and the fact that you're starting to buckle under the pressure.
How about we rest here together for a moment? How about we take this moment to survey what it is that is really weighing us down?
What are you carrying in your travel sack?
Or maybe you have American-sized luggage. I imagine that's a more accurate picture for many of us. Maybe it's time to downsize?
All the more reason to take this moment. Take this moment to discern what needs to stay and what needs to be left by the side of the road.
Perhaps you're carrying some labels that need to land in the trash can. Labels like "not good enough" or "broken," maybe it's time to let those go.
Perhaps you've been carrying something that was never yours to carry in the first place.
Perhaps there are some that you want to keep, and you need to make space for them.
We have a choice in what we carry with us on our journeys. From those collected titles and names to those ridiculously impossible expectations attached to them.
I'm learning that just because the expectation or assumption is there, doesn’t mean you have to do what they say. Even if you carry the name, title, or label, it doesn't mean you have to carry every expectation that's attached.
Some names will stay; some will go. Some we'll choose to burn. Some we'll leave by the roadside, and some we'll choose to embrace.
Some, we may just put into storage for now. And that's ok, too.
Some we'll mourn the loss of, realizing they helped get us to where we are, but we can't continue on with them.
Some will be a welcome loss.
Some will always be with us.
But we get to make those choices.
May we be blessed with discernment to know which titles, labels, and names need to stay and which need to go.
May we have the courage to let go of what we need to and the strength to embrace fully what we choose to carry with us.
May we let go of the expectations attached to these no matter what we choose.
May we experience the joy and freedom of travelling light.
I invite you to take some time to consider: What names or titles are you carrying that you don’t need to be any longer and what names or titles do you want to create space for? What expectations do you need to let go of that are attached to these?
P.S. We will be taking a closer look at this in this month's newsletter. I'll be going in to more detail about the types of names, titles, and labels that we carry so that we have a better idea of what we have in our "suitcases." That newsletter will be sent out on the last Tuesday of the month. If this post resonated with you, and you'd like to read more, I invite you to subscribe to my free newsletter here.
Hey You! Thanks for reading this post, and if you made it all the way here to the bottom, I'm hoping that means you enjoyed it. If you'd like to read more of my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:
Leave a comment down below even if it’s just an emoji or a hi, hey, or hello.
Share this post with a friend.
Follow me on Instagram and TikTok, both @ LaurenLanoue
Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
