A Deep Dive into the Most Mundane Thing Ever (Plastic Bag Blues)

The Unexpected Melancholy

On a recent visit to my home country, Morocco, I spotted a lone plastic bag drifting lazily down the street. It wasn’t gracefully dancing in a poetic, movie-worthy way... more like flapping around, lost and confused. And for some inexplicable reason, I felt a weird pang of sadness. Why does a piece of trash in the wind have that effect on me? Maybe it’s because I see a bit of myself in that flimsy bag, just going wherever the breeze decides.

Why Do We Overthink This Stuff?

People say we overcomplicate the simplest things, and they’re probably right. A plastic bag is just a plastic bag, right? But it’s also a tiny mirror reflecting back our own, sometimes aimless wandering. Sometimes I feel like I’m floating through life without a clear direction. No map, no real plan, just drifting. Watching that bag reminded me of how easy it is to get swept away by forces bigger than us, whether it’s the hustle of city life or the expectations of family and friends.

Existential Dread, Courtesy of Litter

The world doesn’t stop turning just because we have a mini existential crisis. It’s a little absurd that a piece of trash in the wind can make us feel so…fragile. But maybe that’s the beauty of it. Ordinary moments (or objects) can trigger deep thoughts about our place in the world. Plastic bag equals existential meltdown. Who would’ve guessed?

Learning from the Flying Plastic Bag

As random as it sounds, that drifting bag showed me something about adaptability. It has zero control over its path, yet it keeps moving, carried by the wind. Meanwhile, we humans have at least some say in our course, and yet we often feel just as powerless. We have the ability to choose our direction. Change jobs, move cities, make new friends, ditch toxic ones, yet we hesitate. Maybe seeing the bag float past is a subtle reminder that we don’t have to float aimlessly if we don’t want to. We can steer the wheel…or at least try.

Embracing the Breeze

Of course, total control is a myth. There will always be forces in life that push or pull us in unexpected ways. But unlike the bag, we can decide how we respond. We can fight the current or ride it, plant ourselves or shift directions. If a piece of plastic can be carried along without completely falling apart, maybe we can handle life’s gusts, too - hopefully with a bit more grace (and fewer holes).

Final Thoughts

It’s wild how the smallest things can hit us right in the feels - like a drifting plastic bag in Morocco. Sometimes, our personal “mess” reflects back at us in the weirdest ways. Maybe the bag’s real purpose was to remind me (and now, you) that we’re not as stuck as we think. We might all be floating, but at least we’re not made of plastic. We get to pick our path, or even carve a new one if the old route no longer serves us. And that, is more liberating than any random wind current could ever be.