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Remembering on Purpose

03/31/2010

Seriously

The earliest memory I have is one from my life as a three year old.  I vividly remember the plastic air traffic control tower where I put my boogars late at night.  I’d pay good money to forget this, but it’s too late.

I’ve tried to remember more, but I usually get distracted by the other part of my brain that is trying to understand what I’m actually doing in that moment.

What  does it mean to purposefully recall a random memory?

I get how seeing something or hearing something can trigger an associated memory.  I understand why hearing a Rascal Flats guitar solo immediately reminds me of the Double Dare theme song.   But, how do I make myself remember something I don’t already remember without any stimuli?  And when I try, what the heck is my brain doing?

It’s as if inside my head there is an old card catalogue system with a limited capacity .  Every time a new memory is filed in the front an old memory falls out of the back resulting in a large dusty unsorted pile of cards.  This pile grows over time as it gets covered with new layers of old memories.

The guy that works in my head is really good at finding the cards that are in the drawers, but he’s pretty slow and unreliable when it comes to digging through the pile of uncategorized old memories.  I’ve tried to fire him, but he always finds a way to talk me out of it by saying things like, “You can’t fire me.  I’m not even real.”

I’m fascinated by what could be at the bottom of that pile.  Are you?

Have you ever tried to remember something you don’t remember?  If not, I’d like you to do so right this second.  I guarantee you’ve forgotten something worth recalling and writing down in my comments section.

I’m going to do it right now…

Ok, I got something.

I just remembered being extremely scared of the old lady who lived next door.  She had this green glass bowl full of what appeared to be an assortment of small hard candies, but due to the hot dampness in her living room it was impossible to take one without taking all the other ones that were cemented to it. Her wrinkles were deep, and I bet stuff lived inside of them.  I’m pretty sure she drove a broom.  And, for breakfast she ate little boys who picked their noses at night.

What have your forgotten about?

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  • adam key yes

    How can I remember something if I've already forgotten it. If I remember it, then that means I never forgot it in the first place. Or does it?…..
    I feel like I'm in the Matrix. I'm pretty sure Neo could figure this out.

  • http://gaskillrascals.blogspot.com/ gaskill rascal

    I have tried as hard as I can, but I can't remember the specifics….At some point in my life I either found out the truth about how babies are made or the truth about santa and quickly ran across the street, climbed in a tent with the neighbor kids, and filled them in on my new found information. I have a feeling one would have brought a worse punishment and caused me to be shunned from their home, but despite my trying, I can't remember the specifics.
    glad you are back to blogging.

  • Jman

    I got a spankin for playing show me yours I'll show you mine

  • kurush

    I remember coming out of the womb, I was 3 at the time.

  • http://bryanallain.com bryan a

    i remember when my brother and i (Ages 9 and 7) realized that wheat thins flew like chinese stars. We wasted more than half a box trying to land one on the roof of our next door neighbor's 3-story apartment. that neighbor was also my great aunt, who was none too amused to come home and fin a box of crackers strewn about her walkway. good times.

  • http://clarkumentary.blogspot.com/ Carl

    My earliest memory is riding with my dad in his truck during a snowstorm. I had just turned three and I remember following the rest of my family in a station wagon (we were moving grandma into town, and heading back out to the farm) when he ditched it. Many years later Dad was bragging to us kids how he had never ditched a vehicle. I reminded him of this incident and he refused to believe I could actually remember the incident, but he did end up having to recant. Many years later I had kids, and I held fast to that memory: could I get away with anything until they turned three?

  • http://mom2chelnjustin.blogspot.com Allison

    I was younger than 5. I think it might have been Christmas or maybe my birthday. Anyway, my parents gave me a Good Humor ice cream truck ride on. Here's a picture of it (that's not me – just some random kid)http://www.inthe70s.com/toys/playskoolgoodhumorri…

  • Brannon

    At age 2, I had a nightmare that a gorilla (which actually looked like a man in a cheap gorilla suit from The Electric Company) was riding around on my riding toy at the bottom of our stairs. He effectively trapped me in the upstairs bedroom because he was blocking me from reaching the rest of my family, who was in the living room, oblivious to his evil antics. Our carpet was light gray and really scratchy on my feet. Consequently I fear gorilla suits like other people fear clowns.

  • http://830eyes.wordpress.com Katie

    When I was a year and a half old, my mom was in an accident with a school bus and I remember my dad holding me and my brother and watching them put my mom in the ambulance. For years I thought I was just making this up because I didn't think at that age you'd actually remember anything and I couldn't figure out how we would have been there with no cell service back in the day how did we know (we weren't in the car) But then a few years ago my brother who was three at the time said my memory was spot on and he thinks we were actually following her somewhere.

    So I guess that's my earliest one. For the record my mom was ok…

  • http://andnowforthevows.com Thigpen

    For three years, I lived in a small train town called Clifton Fordge in West Virginia. Our next door neighbor, Mr. Bone (I'm not making that up), had, on two hands, a total of one thumb and three fingers (he worked on trains). He could make a small ball disappear by throwing it up into the air. Mr Bone at once amazed and wigged me out.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/enamoredbyone enamoredbyone

    Hmm… I don't remember how old I was, probably less than 3, but I remember being in our Aroma Park house (We lived in 3 different houses before I turned 5, when my parents got divorced… yeah, I know… way to be a Debbie Downer.)…. Anyway… I remember walking into the living room and seeing my dad & one of my uncles on the couch and being like 'okay…' and then walking down the hallway to my brothers room. I have a few memories from that house & none of them are very exciting… oh well… lol.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/trippcrosby trippcrosby

    I love these ones so full of drama

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/trippcrosby trippcrosby

    I'm writing mr. bone into something. what an amazing character

  • Thor

    I read an article in wired about memory. It said that when we remember an event, we aren't actually remembering the event itself. We are remembering the last time we remembered it. That's why the parts we haven't tried to remember get so much harder to recall, and why it's so easy for us to accidently (or intentionally, you liars) add things into our stories, and then later be certain that it actually happened that way.

    Anyways, my first memory is of eating a bean burrito from taco bell.