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| A birthday postcard, 1917 |
I’ve always had a pretty good, but not perfect, memory. As a young person taking tests in school, I feared not being able to think of the answer, which sometimes happened. To that end, I over-studied, and that was my strength. And once the test was over, I might not remember the answers next week. I had to study hard again for the final. I am not a candidate for Jeopardy.
As I grow older, memory is even more challenging. For instance, as I was grocery shopping last week, I remembered that we needed rolls, so I pushed the cart to the bread aisle, and as I walked along thinking of this and that, when I got to the bread aisle, I couldn’t remember why I was there. So, I went on with my shopping, and on the other side of the store, I remembered that I wanted rolls. No, I didn’t go back for them. We are roll-less at this time.
This type of scenario happens all the time when I shop. Distraction and lack of focus are the problems, I think. It’s difficult now to process many little items at one time.
Memory is just “strange territory.” It can go the other way, too, and suddenly something comes to mind. As we left for the farm the other day, I suddenly remembered that my farm coat was in the town closet. I had hung the coat in the back of the closet, so I didn’t remember because I was constantly seeing it. I just remembered. Apparently all is not lost!
In my life with my mother, she used to share lots of little coping tricks, some of which came from her mother.
· If you can’t find what
you’re looking for, go to the bathroom.
· If you can’t remember
what you were going after (as when I was in the bread aisle), go back to your
starting point. Actually, this often works for me.
I have more of those little tidbits buried in my memory, but right now I can’t call them to mind – at least none that are appropriate to mention. I think in “olden times” before medicine became big business, people helped each other with these ideas.
Or, maybe we still help one another in this way. I remember calling my friend Chris for her advice on a machine embroidery project that was giving me fits. The first words out of her mouth were, “Eat lunch.” So I did, and the project came together.
I
can remember the birthdates, including years, of most of my nieces and nephews,
and of course, I remember the birthdates of my children. Well, mostly. It’s a
bit challenging since Clint was due on the 4th but came on the 6th,
and Hallie was born on the 4th. I can get confused between the 4th and the 6th. Remembering
the grandchildren’s birthdates is problematic – kind of in and out. KW
3 comments:
I think those are good tips. My ability to remember (or not) is often a factor of sleep, food, stress, and distraction. I listened to a podcast once that talked about how the brain works. It said that all the things that happen throughout the day create background noise for the brain. When you sleep, it washes away all that noise and then you start again fresh the next day. So maybe sometimes there’s just too much noise in there.
I agree with the "noise" concept. Maybe it's "too much information."
I think of the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks. It had to be boring, and yet they were alert and thinking and inspiration came to them. And I know that my mother and her brother clipped and thought-provoking poems, verses, and short articles. Today, our thought processes have a lot of interference.
Personally, I'm amazed I had such good advice for you!! LOL!
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