Picturing baggage as habits

Recently, I've been picturing the self-maintaining dynamics of our emotional baggage as habits. Our baggage persists just like habits that are hard to break. We get locked into routines that offer no escape, no relief and no learning to change with the times. When we've got baggage interfering with what we claim we want, the desires are some new deal fighting against what remains unchanged. We're trapped by whatever worked in our past history, just like behavior patterns we got into the habit of doing long ago.

Picturing baggage as habits also provides another way to bring baggage to a useful ending. We can form a new habit as if we don't have the old habit. We can simply begin to act differently than before and finding out if it works for us. We can experiment with different ways to interpret, act in and react to familiar situations. We then fit my favorite definition of creativity:

Seeing the familiar in a unfamiliar way and seeing the unfamiliar in a familiar way

When we're stuck in a habit, everything is set in cement. We already know what everything is and how to deal with it. Our mind is made up and our conduct is predictable. However, when we're tentatively forming a new habit, nothing is for certain just yet. We're wondering about options and exploring different ways to see things. Our minds are open and our actions keep others guessing.

Eventually we face a choice between viable alternatives. Our old habit and new routine both work in some situations. We consciously consider which works the best and at the least cost. We make a tradeoff between what comes most easily and what makes the most difference. Once we choose wisely, the new choice will become our new habit. The new routine wins out over the old habit. A piece of our baggage has come to a useful ending.