It was a title of a photo-story show of eight seniors in 2006. I
collected, edited and mounted their unique stories, accompanied by their portraits. The title–borrowed
from a song Maurice Chevalier sings to Hermione Gingold in the 1958 film "Gigi." He recalls
moments in their youthful affair, to which she reminds him on every point that it was different from 'what he remembered so well.' Amusing and so real!
Why this introduction? It's about Memory. My recent discovery about it may interest and help anyone who frequently finds him/herself at odds with it. I assume, it's not just a "senior moment" stuff. Steeped as I am in Memory, while finalizing my memoir Socialism vs. Santa, (to be published in the early 2014) I recently discovered something about Memory, which excites me and is worth sharing. Does anyone else struggle with recalling names? Even greater challenge–trying to remember a name of a colleague from student days, like mine in Munich, Germany in the mid-sixties. I haven't been in touch with her since, but I knew she had married a Peruvian friend. To remember his name, did I ever know it–was unimaginable, yet it surfaced like an air-bubble from a deep sea. By further investigating on-line I established a contact within a few hours.
Conclusion: Everything I learned, thought and experienced is still deposited in different layers of my brain. We have to request the brain to send a Memory courier to retrieve "the file" from the archive. Be trusting and patient. Go on about your business. Retrieval times vary, but the file exists–it is not lost, it will resurface at unexpected moments.
You notice, I'm using analogy to a computer file, when having clicked a wrong key, one fears to have lost it, a whole book, or worse–, only to discover after clicking another key that the file is still there!
Test this memory retrieval and find out for yourself.
I would be pleased to hear that this discovery helped someone else. Let me know.
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| "One enchanted evening"–The Deep Sky |
3 comments:
I have tested this discovery. It works. You just have to be patient while the brain works to bring forward to consciousness deep-seated stored memories and information.
Totally agree Vlasta - sometimes memories and readily accessible, other times one has to be patient, making the request and then stepping away... Accessibility changes too - affected by circadian rhythm, stress level, associations, etc. Long term memory really lasts :). We do a cute thing in Portugal (not necessarily about memories of the past but more about working memory, the everyday use one), when we can't remember where we left an object (car keys/wallet/whatever) we tie a string or a handkerchief to the leg of a chair/table - this is meant to tie the leg of the little devil who moves your stuff around just to drive you insane. It works too.
Thanks, Herman,
This was a big, personal discovery, and I am glad that it works for "brains" in general. I thought it was worth sharing it!
Thanks, Xana,
That's a fun comment. I like to think that things have a mind of their own, and sometimes play games with us–they hide. The best thing is, like with brain, to walk away. The fun gone, they appear where we can see them. Once I had a real experience of that. An object that was supposed to be in its place–wasn't. Later it was!
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