Unburdening the bag of holding...
Whenever I watch shows or movies and I see people with backpacks or satchels I always look to see how much they burden the actors. Now, I don't expect actors to do action sequences or even regular movement sequences take after take while lugging heavy things because that's not healthy or reasonable.
Thing is, that depiction of action heroes and movie soldiers and movie hikers moving swift and sleek gives us all some twisted ideas and expectations for others and for ourselves.
When I was in the army the most frustrating element of every single activity was managing stuff. Stuff management is the primary training element in basic training and specialized stuff management comes later in advanced training. Much of this is keeping track of stuff that one has personally signed for and is personally financially responsible for keeping.
In WWII, D-Day personal load out was around 75lbs. One person would lug that much around simply to maintain their own survival and presence. On top of that would be added squad load. These are the ammunition and special equipment issued to each unit that are shared out because nobody thought to bring a mule.
Since WWII personal load out weights have doubled.
I'm told that traditional modern hikers try to keep it under 30lbs and the sexy ultralight folks aim for under 10lbs.
My EDC (my parents would call it a pocketbook) weighs about 3lbs and unless it's extreme weather I do my best to keep it as light as possible.
I enjoy seeing how games play with this concept of burdening. In Halo, I can pick up the big mounted weapons, but then I can't run or jump as high. Spouse is constantly organizing her inventory and returning to her bases to store everything in containers for crafting or whatever she's doing with it. In some TTRPGs players take great joy in making sure that their STR and equipment balance out but loopholes can allow scrawny characters to pull grandfather clocks out of their pouches.
Why am I thinking about this today?
I've been walking my puppy on his thirty foot lead around our wooded yard with the big trees and the small trees and the bird feeder poles and the rock walls and every single obstacle that a young pup can practice his bowline tying skills around. Most times I walk with a cane. It's cold some nights so I have hat and jacket. Of course I have my phone with me because I'm listening to a book. This is usually in the dark and about half the time there is snow and/or ice on the ground.
The comedy writes itself and it's mostly slapstick.
Tonight I was surprised to notice that even with all of this potential comedy I very seldom get frustrated with the process. Sure it's painful to walk, but it's always painful to walk. The puppy and I are learning where I should shorten his lead when we come to narrow spots with lots of tangle potential. He is very patient with my slow pace and enjoys finding all of the chipmunk holes and peeing on them.
Unless I'm trying to do something in addition to our walk, like moving things or gardening, I don't really get frustrated. Even when I am gardening I tend to plan my moves so far in advance that taking time to pee on one more tree isn't inconvenient.
We're all burdened with our responsibilities and even with our gifts and joys. Everything around us is something we must account for in our movements and choices. When we see other people moving sleek and swift and appearing unburdened, we don't need to compare their apparent freedom to our daily struggle. Pushing through situations while pretending our burdens aren't there will only get us tangled up on every possible point.
Physical burdens are not inherently bad. When you need to have 30lbs of gear to go hiking and come back alive and healthy, those 30lbs are a blessing of a burden. Having to manage my cane is a burden, but it is what allows me to walk the dog ten times farther than I could walk him without it.
There's a whole 'nother aspect of burdens in our burdens of psyche, memory, and world concepts... but I'll save that for later.
Those who appear unburdened probably are not, and those who are burdened may well have experience and equipment on hand to deal with things that may come up. There is probably a balance of burden/resource that is ideal for each person in any given situation but I'm not sure how to quantify such a thing. Just knowing that my burdens are also resources in some way may be enough to keep me out there walking the dog with all of my gear and appreciating how other people navigate the world with whatever they have, however heavy or useful it may seem at a distance.