An interesting photo series

[layla]

If you had to flee your house and country forever, and could only take one thing with you, what would it be? This photo essay poses refugees with their most important possession.

Now here's what I did, and what I recommend doing: before you click on the link, think about it. If you had to flee forever, what would be the first thing you'd grab, and the thing you'd want to keep with you? Because I think it's kind of an illuminating look into our lives, and here's what I realized after I did it and then looked at the pictures (and if you're going to play along at home, I recommend picking your "important thing" before you click on the cut).

I couldn't decide on any one most important thing, but here are the things I thought about taking with me, more or less in the order they occurred: my laptop; a notebook to write in; my wallet; one of the books from the shelf where my favorite books live; the ruby necklace that my husband gave me for my birthday, which is also the only actual -- in the sense of "expensive, with real gemstones" -- jewelry that I own (other than my wedding ring, which oddly enough didn't occur to me); a picture of my family.

After looking at the linked photos, I realized all the things I didn't think of: food; water; a container to carry water in; a knife; an axe. My dogs and cat. My husband. Because, I guess, on some subconscious level, I assumed that I would have those things wherever I'm going, and that my family and pets would be safe. I just didn't even think of it. The closest that I got to genuine practicalities is to include things like my wallet in my mental list of maybes, although that's partly because I've done a lot of mental fire drills, and "grab the wallet and laptop" is my main priority in addition to getting family and pets out. But mostly, when asked "most important thing to take?" my brain went instantly to luxuries and keepsakes. (And, as much as writing feels like a necessity to me, in comparison to, say, food? Water? It's a luxury.)

I don't think it's a symptom of materialism so much as an awfully telling indication of ... well, privilege: how safe and stable my life is, and has always been (even if it sometimes didn't seem like it at the time). I am clearly not very good at thinking like a refugee -- because I've never had to.

Comments

[schneefink]

...huh. I didn't think of practical things at all. (Nor people, but they aren't things or possessions so imo they don't count here.) Definitely a sign of how lucky I am.

[layla]

Yes! I wasn't expecting to have such a "...wow" moment when I looked at the pictures and realized that everything I had been thinking about was nothing but a luxury, especially when compared to something like a plastic bottle to hold water. ("Possessions" does tend to steer you away from thinking about people -- it certainly did me -- but I also didn't think of pets or anything along those lines, either.)

[astridv]

Oh. Very interesting. I went through passport, artwork, cheque cards, can't just pick one thing... when I realized, of course, our cat. But it didn't occur to me to even think about practical daily survival things because, yeah, you assume those would just be there. Damn.

[layla]

Yeah, I think it really makes an impact to have thought about it beforehand, and then see what people actually took and realize, holy shit, I didn't even think about water. Really an eye-opening moment.

[sophia_sol]

Drat, I wish I had read your second paragraph before clicking on the link. Now I can't know how I would have answered without looking at those photos!

But I am willing to bet I would have gone in a similar direction to you, because yeah, I too live a privileged life where worrying about food and water isn't a thing a I have to do.

Those photos are really something.

[layla]

Heh, yeah, I think it gives you a special kick in the gut when you've taken the time to think about it beforehand, only to go, Oh shit, I'm really privileged, aren't I?

But you still get a lot of that impact from looking at the pictures, because, damn.

[sara]

We once had to pack up ahead of a hurricane, and could take only what would fit in the car. What we ended up packing was each other, the cat, a filebox of important papers, my grandmother's wedding silver, a box of photographs, and a couple of overnight bags with clothes and toiletries.

The hurricane ended up turning and going north up the coast, and we didn't need to evacuate, but since then I've been much less attached to "stuff" than I used to be.

[layla]

We had to do something similar for a forest fire when I was a kid. And yeah, it really puts "stuff" in perspective, doesn't it? When it comes right down to it, almost everything except loved ones can be replaced.

[thistleburr]

Here it would be the pets, and then if I had time, my laptop, but on the ship, it would be a jug of fresh drinking water. Priorities change depending on your circumstances and environment, for sure.

[layla]

Oh, very true! And it matters a great deal where you expect to go. I'd grab different stuff if I was running into the wilderness and had to survive there, versus running to stay with a relative in another state ...

[sentientcitizen]

Part of it, I think, is that if I had to run I would expect to still be within "civilization". I know that the one time I legitimately thought I was going to have to abandon anything I couldn't carry and had a few minutes to grab stuff (fire alarm in a university residence situation, where they tell you to wait for further instructions but be ready to evacuate at any time; for a variety of factors, I had no reason to think it was a false alarm), I threw on weather-appropriate clothes over my PJs, slung my purse over my shoulder, and then grabbed my laptop and power cord.

And when I read the question, before clicking the link, those were the same things I thought of because for me, the purse and the laptop where the only two tools I required to obtain food, shelter, water, etc. The idea of having to run so far, or in such a situation, that I couldn't be guaranteed of being able to acquire food/shelter/water/etc in the way I'm accustomed to... it's actually kind of flummoxing. Like, I have trouble imagining it. I think you're right - that's one hell of a sign of how privileged my life has always been.

[layla]

I KNOW. This is what hit me, I guess, because I didn't even THINK of things like having to haul and carry my own water because it couldn't be obtained otherwise. Obviously it does matter what sort of apocalypse you're expecting (one in which there will still be social infrastructure, versus one in which there won't) but ... I guess it says a lot about the life I've lived that I immediately defaulted to "apocalypse with infrastructure", when there are people in the world (the actual world, right now!) who can't make that assumption at all.