FIELD NOTES NO. 001 — WHAT WE CARRY

What We Carry

The Little Garden Field Notes · No. 001

At first, the bag was light.

But little by little, things found their way inside.

A mistake. Something someone said. A friendship that changed. An expectation that became heavier than it was supposed to be.

And after carrying something for long enough, sometimes we stop noticing the weight.

What We Carry is an illustrated story and personal journal for ages 12–15, created for the complicated space between holding on and learning what we're ready to set down.

Through the story of a weathered field pack and the stones collected along the way, readers are invited to consider a simple question:

Does everything you're carrying still belong to you?

Not everything has to be let go.

Some things are worth keeping. Some things were never ours to carry. And some things need more time before we're ready to decide.

Because growing doesn't always mean leaving everything behind.

Sometimes it means choosing what comes with you.

After the illustrated story ends, the rest of the journal belongs to the reader—lined pages for thoughts, questions, lists, drawings, unfinished sentences, or the things that might be easier to write down first.

There are no right words here.

These are your field notes.

Part of The Little Garden Field Notes: Stories from Black Rose Supply Co.

Read it. Keep it. Write in it.

Recommended for ages 12–15.

Everything Dies. Something Grows.
—The Caretaker