If you have ever traveled with an African mother, then this post may give you a bit of PTSD. I actually hate traveling with my mother, because it always feels chaotic! It’s as if she plays a game to see how much weight she can finesse into her luggage. I can feel the glares of the clerk as they struggle to set her bag on the scale. “Ma’am, your luggage is overweight. We’ll have to charge you a fee unless you can take some of the weight off.” My mother let out a loud sigh, as if she didn’t already know that as she stuffed extra clothes into the bags in the parking lot. As routine, we removed the luggage and began to remove the stuff and set it on the scale, repeatedly until her bags were at an acceptable weight. When the clerk tells her that she’s all set, she still pleads with them to accept her last few items as she shoves it into the bags. Ridiculous!
Growing up, I vowed to make sure that my luggages were always underweight when I traveled to avoid the nuance. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried my stuff would always end up overweight. Funny enough, I actually created the first Swanzy set as a way to alleviate some of that weight and stuff them in my hoodie and jogger pockets. Before I knew it, I had become my mother. Let’s go a bit deeper…
How many of us feel burdened by the weight of our parents and their past? I know I sure have. There’s been countless times where I’ve felt like as soon as I make one bag lighter, I’m left to deal with unpacking another one. For example, when I first started Swanzy I had no idea how to start or run a business. Everything I’ve done and learned has been from scratch. Often times it would make me feel lost or unqualified. It would cause me to be inconsistent with Swanzy. A continuous process of starting and stopping, because I felt I lacked guidance. Until, one day God showed me I can’t get to my destination if I’m carrying excess baggage. If I allow Him to give me what I need, He’d help me get to where He’s calling me to and I won’t feel so burdened, because I wouldn’t be doing it alone. This year, I decided to let go of the frustrations and burdens of my past and my family’s past and pick up hope, courage, passion, consistency, and trust. It was truly the best decision I made for myself and my brand. I’m nowhere near where I want Swanzy to be, but I know that leaving the deadweight behind gives me the space to move in the direction I need to be in.
So, the next time you feel like you’re juggling too much, take a breather and utilize the many pockets we’ve included in our Swanzy Sets. Just kidding, remember that like excess baggage you just have to work on removing one piece at a time. We can make the decision to substitute our bad habits with good ones that’ll help us prepare for our next destination. For example, if you know you’re always late to the airport (like I used to be), perhaps loading your luggage in the car the night before would be helpful. Also, laying your Swanzy outfit out the night before would be helpful. The small habits we build lead to big changes. Speaking of excess luggage, I am a huge empath so I would always pile on people’s luggage and it would weigh me down. So, in order to relieve myself of that burden I began to exclude myself from conversations and situations that would drain me. I had to protect my mind in order to show up as the best version of myself. I can’t be the best when I don’t feel my best.