Sight Through the Everyday: Organizing & Personalizing Bags, M. Paula Vidal Valdespino

Sight Through the Everyday: Organizing & Personalizing Bags

I have had many questions on what it means to see and how do our personalities, along with the mundane of our daily lives, shape and reimagine our sight. Let alone something that we carry with us every day, like a purse, backpack, or whatever we define as our ‘go-to bag.’  With a background in intersectional literature and creative practices, I struggle at the constant reach of blending positionality with academic endeavors and concepts that go beyond structural inequalities and turn to internal reflections outward     .  What I mean by this is, rather than looking at class or gender in how we dress and adorn ourselves (which are influences we cannot ignore), how does the makeup, for example, that we use, shape our decisions in what is important in a material and mundane sense.  And perhaps, I might be echoing the same message in both points, but it is through these natural acts of seeing that help me better understand questions of importance and human essence in our personal lives. By turning to authors      John Berger (1972) and James Elkins (2000), and their work on sight, I believe I can better conceptualize the different ways we see the everyday. And as a person who is fascinated by the mundane, there is a lot to see in the things people look over or ignore.

In Berger’s book, Ways of Seeing, he opens the first chapter by addressing the sense that “comes before words”, which is sight, and the frames it as a sense that “establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it.” (Berger, 1972, p. 7). He further expands this argument by sharing a common experience of knowing through sensory experiences (or embodiment), but what we see per se does not align with our feelings (also ideas and thoughts), as it is where knowledge “never quite fits the sight.” (Berger, 1972, p. 7).  Our experiences with sight have long come before we have formulated the very sentences to describe preexisting knowledge, and rather been on embodiment, feelings, and simply seeing. These preexisting thoughts and experiences have then turned into beliefs and understandings of how we view the world around us, which is constantly changing based on new embodied experiences but also the choices we make to “situate” ourselves “in relation to “new or ‘known’ things (Berger, 1972, pp. 8-9). Later in his book, he focuses on the importance of space and advertising, which clogs up most of our sight in urban sights, sharing how “In the cities in which we live, all of us see hundreds of publicity images every day of our lives. No other kind of image confronts us so frequently.” (Berger, 1972, p.129). This changes our relationship with sight and moves it away from a choice to see and personal discovery (such as coming across a flower on a walk or seeing the sun because our window faces the sunrise), into a forced act of sight, one that literally and figuratively “confronts us.” (Berger, 1972, p.129). Although, Berger states “all images are man-made” and embody information, how much of who we are and our personal ways of viewing are shaped by “forced” visuals and what we are expected to ‘see’? (Berger, 1972, pp. 9-10). Where does the new discovery of embodiment and knowledge-     making become reintroduced into our lives? I think this is where customization and personalizing mundaneness come into place, but I will unpack that later in this piece.

In the preface of James Elkins’ (2000) book, How to Use Your Eyes, he shares his aspirations for his book and how he hopes his book will:

will inspire every reader to stop and consider things that are absolutely ordinary, things so clearly meaningless that they never seemed worth a second thought. Once you start seeing them, the world—which can look so dull, so empty of interest—will gather before your eyes and become thick with meaning. (p. XIII)

He expands this by sharing the things we see that are made by man and by nature, such as postage stamps, mandalas, our fingerprints, to nothing itself, that we could either find fascinating or haven’t given them much attention (Elkins, 2000, pp. 2, 86, 154, 238). In addition, he shares how these things are common and can be seen anywhere, but also includes things that are “not all there is to the visible world: there are also wonderful objects that are uncommon or rare.” (Elkins, 2000, p. XII). Which I think could be a stretch, but what are the things that reflect how we understand, experience, and see the world, but are hidden away (or out of sight) as they are stuffed in bags? (Elkins, 2000, p. XII; Berger, 1972, p.8).

Mundaneness, Power, and Intersectionality

        The above analysis translates into my attempt to demonstrate sight through the everyday and carefully looking at the things      we consider mundane, common, or even ordinary (Elkins, 2000, pp. XII-III). As Berger established, to experience and see the world, we do not need to have the words or a full understanding of how it functions, but rather what Elkins calls for, an appreciation for the depth and existence they hold (or produce through feelings, thoughts, and ideas) (Berger, 1972, p.8; Elkins, 2000, p. XIII). Now circling back to acknowledging the role of intersectionality and the weaving of race, gender, class, and more in shaping how we experience and navigate the world, this in turn shapes the knowledge we use to understand the world around us—it provides a framework to build the language for what we see, even if they do not quite align (Moya, 2011; Berger, 1972, p. 7).  As Berger shares in the following passage: “The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe”; how we understand and experience sight is shaped by these personal experiences, beliefs, and identities. (Berger, 1972, p. 8). Therefore, sight becomes political, and we must not only acknowledge the systems of power that shape and profit from the demise of vulnerable and minoritized people in society, but the ways we shut them off too. We are not all Jesus or perfect beings, but we must stop and see who we are purposefully looking away from, especially those who have sought out for us to engage with them on a deeper level, beyond physically seeing and hearing them.  Whether it be victims of genocide, the houseless folks on our streets, or our romantic partners, the rise of individualism and push for capitalism has shifted our sight away from community, justice, and love.

By appreciating the richness of experience that everyone holds can help us move towards understanding how we and others see our surroundings, and how much      institutions and corporations push towards altering our attention and sight away from each other. In one of Berger’s chapters, he discusses the way children and adults decorate their spaces, or boards as he calls them, with works of original art to “match and express” the experience of their rooms (Berger, 1972, p. 30). On a few pages after, he expresses how art has been replaced by a “language of images” and when people are cut from their past, they are less likely to act as a collective than those who have been “situated” in history, which reinforces the political nature of sight through art and history (Berger, 1972, p. 33). So, what am I trying to say     – Quite a lot, in all honesty. Sight is political, and through decorations and how people choose how to decorate their bedrooms—what is important to them? Why? What do certain textures, patterns, or colours mean to them?

Customization and personalizing are impacted by our identities or proximity to the margins. Why are some hoarding and others placing everything in a bag? There are many questions to ask but I call to look at the intimate, mundane of everyday life; how people decorate their living room windows, style their hair, stylize their electronic devices (are/what stickers are on there? Where did they come from? Who made them? What’s their message(s)?), and where do they walk when they want to be outside? We will begin to see the conditions of sight versus how the world is are very different, as Berger shares: “The contrast between publicity’s interpretation of the world and the world’s actual condition is a very stark one” (Berger, 1972, p. 150). Let’s begin to once again ask questions and talk with those around us, to understand the multitude of meaning the world envelopes us with.

Reddit and Sight

I recently came across a Reddit forum called r/whatsinthebag, which is a sister page of another forum on everyday essentials called r/EDC for “Everyday Carry.” This forum includes hundreds of images from multiple Reddit users that show the items in their bags, from fans and hand sanitizers to prescription medications. Each post contains personalized bags and items that speak a lot to the users’ needs and preferences, which hints at what they find important enough that they want to carry with them daily. I highly recommend checking out the forum not only for the following questions, but for any suggestions or ideas on how to organize your bags (especially as students, possibly caretakers and parents).

• What colours are most of the items?
• What popular culture references are present in the presentation of everyday objects?
  • Sanrio items, like Hello Kitty
• What professions are the individuals in?
  • There are nursing and mortuary student posts, and others where users are seeking other users’ guesses on their items say about themselves.
• What purpose do these items meet? How is this tailored to the person?

Like the images of bedroom boards in Berger’s work, I will be looking at two bags, and the items place inside, to see the various ways two individuals equip themselves for their daily lives. In a way, I am merging Berger’s and Elkins’ ideas of looking at the mundane and the personal decisions that people make to decorate their personal spaces, to look at the aesthetics and functionality of items that people have on their bag. I will look at users r/Slikslack92 ’s and r/Raeshezzy’s bags.

In this bag, the user titles their post as “My daily bag, it’s a little heavy” (Slikslack92, 2025). Without knowing who this user is, we can identify that they like organizing their belongings and prefers sleeker aesthetics with most items being black, apart from some decorated items like their laptop cover and binder.

Figure 1: r/Slikslack92. September 16, 2025. Reddit. Exterior of bag and items inside the bag.

Perhaps they’re a student, cue the calculator and school supplies, which would impact how they see and experience the world around them. If we take a closer look, the personalization, which are the selection of      stickers on the binder, the laptop, and bag chain, along with a possible pretzel eraser and cute tin boxes, hint at a more discreet way of sharing interests in organizing their everyday items. Are they from favourite films or reminders of childhood experiences?

Figure 2 :

r/Slikslack92. September 16, 2025. Reddit. Exterior of bag and items inside the bag.

For the second bag, the user titles their post as “Baggu swap day!” (Raesheezy, 2025). This user has a very different aesthetic than the previous, having an interest for bright and busy patterns—mostly pertaining to the same brand, Baggu. It is harder to understand how this user may view the world as most of their items are in pouches, which could hint for their need for privacy and practicality in organizing items accordingly. In a comment asking what was in the pouches, they respond with: “The top left one you can see is pens and a post-it pad. The one below it is misc. supplies (Band-Aids, Tide stain wipes, alcohol wipes, hair ties, tweezers, bag balm). The itty-     bitty budget coin purse has my lucky pennies and a buffalo nickel in it. In the center is a travel-size tissue holder and to the far right are two reusable bags, and below them a sunglasses pouch. 🙂 oh, and there are life saver mints in the front pocket of the tiny purple backpack that holds my lip balm. It all sounds kind of deranged when I list it like this. 🤪” (Raesheezy, 2025).

Figure 3:  r/Raesheezy. September 05, 2025. Reddit. Interior items

Despite the different aesthetics and presentation of both users’ personal belongings, there are similarities between the two, such as having separate organizing styles and being prepared by having stain wipes or scissors.  They still engage with different parts of popular culture, with one having more outward expressions of interest whilst hiding their belongs in pouches, and the other with more transparency with their items in plain colours. Overall, the items they choose provide a peek into what the things they (may) need daily, which can allude to who they are, and how they view the world around them. A student may see the world through an academic lens, and an outwardly expressive person may seek the funk parts of their surroundings. It would be awesome to have a conversation with both users and explore why they chose their objects, and how they see the world around them—what is sight for them?

Critical Reflection

        As I was thinking about sight, what it means to me and how I would call for others to understand it, I kept thinking about Elkins’ and Berger’s embodiment and looking beyond (or deeper into) what we think is important to see (Elkins, 2000; Berger, 1972). These ideas go back to what we believe is valuable and how and who gets to define what is important, similarly to what sight is and how it is experienced. I believe I took a more digestible approach to Visual Culture, that makes it easier for the public to understand what it means to engage with visuals and sight outside of museums and galleries, but within their own lives—inside their bags. Sight is a sensory experience that draws from many senses and experiences, that are shaped by who we are and is a fluid state that changes as we do (Moya, 2011). As people, we are made up of stories shared from loved ones, shows we loved as children, all the way to the flavourful foods from our ancestral homes. I acknowledge the ways systems of power categorize and harm people, and the same ways people use creative, love, and justice to build community and celebrate their differences. Their differences of living, loving, and seeing. The difference of experiencing sight. I see you; you see me.

Works Cited

Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing: based on the BBC television series with John Berger.  The British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books.

Elkins, J. (2000). How To Use Your Eyes. Routledge.

Moya, P. M. L. (2011). Who We Are and From Where We Speak. Transmodernity, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.5070/T412011809

Raesheezy. (2025, September 5). Baggu swap day! [Online forum post]. https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsinthebag/comments/1n9fxf1/baggu_swap_day/

Slikslack92. (2025, September 16). My daily bag, it’s a little heavy. [Online forum post]. https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsinthebag/comments/1nij6e2/my_daily_bag_its_a_little_heavy/