Psychology 101

A couple of days ago, I realized that I needed some kind of bag to carry my books/computer in for classes.  Of course, this gave me a very convenient excuse to give in to something I've been lusting after for years.  Over the weekend, my friend and I went to the mall and I bought myself this beauty:

It may not look like much, but this Longchamp bag is perfect--durable, simple, and big enough to fit my laptop without being ridiculously bulky.  And I bought it in purple which, as my friend pointed out (in a wonderfully enabling way) can go with either black or brown.

So I'm happily walking around the city toting my bag, when it dawns on me.  The color I chose almost perfectly matches the color of my high school backpack--you know the one, the classic LL Bean backpack that everyone seemed to have back in the late 1990s:

Yep, that's the one.  So basically, I just bought myself the grown-up version of my childhood school bag.    Let's explore that, shall we?  You could say that being in an unfamiliar situation, I subconsciously drew comfort in the familiar by purchasing something that serves as a reminder of my childhood, thereby offering myself a small source of reassurance as I start my life in this new setting.  Basically, I bought myself a security blanket.  A very, very expensive security blanket.  Well done, Andrea.  Well done.