A Tale of Two Rucksacks

After last week’s post about bags, the green rucksack had been playing on my mind. I really wanted a blue one to match the predominant colours in my Spring capsule wardrobe. But buying a new rucksack, just for the sake of colour didn’t really match the new principles of minimalism that I’m trying to follow. I could think of plenty of justifications for a new bag, after all the green rucksack had really only been a stop-gap, an ‘emergency’ purchase. It’s amazing what a line we can spin to justify a spot of shopping. A post on the Facebook page of The Story of Stuff served to remind me that I didn’t really need a new bag and indeed it might even be possible to train my brain not to buy one, although I don’t think I’ve got time to make a spreadsheet listing every single item I possess!

I did some research to try and find out why I had this urge to acquire a bag simply because of its colour. Why had my old rucksack, perfect in size, shape and functionality, suddenly fallen out of favour? A quick Google search on the subject of colour matching a clothes collection only reinforced the theory that a perfectly matched and colour coordinated capsule wardrobe is the way forward. An article on the psychology of colour suggests that our choices of favourite colours are made unconsciously, possibly due to past positive reactions to a colour or cultural influences. The only other explanation was a link to obsessive compulsive behaviour - OK, so I do like all the clothes pegs on the line to match, so perhaps that’s the explanation.

 

Then, the other day I found myself in the French temple of technical, Decathlon, as OH is preparing to complete the last leg of his Camino de Santiago Compostelle.  I found myself in the rucksack aisle but there was nothing suitable, or blue. Of course, once the seed had been planted in my mind I decided to do a bit of internet research on my return home and found exactly the rucksack I was looking for. ‘I bet it’s UK delivery only’, I said. No. Worldwide delivery, reduced by 50% and the site accepted paypal – three reasons why the rucksack was soon winging it’s way to the Limousin.

 

So, now I’ve got a rucksack that is identical to the old one. Same make, shape, size, number of pockets…the only difference is the colour, a deep shade of raspberry. It’s not blue, but it does match perfectly with all the choices in my new Spring capsule. And the good news is that the old rucksack has been donated to the OH, although I’m sure I can borrow it if I ever need a green one…