This photographed image I've named: ''A papers memory of a fold.''
Without something to remember, is there such a thing as a memory?
Is memory something that belongs to humans only?
What......... is memory?
Simply put, it is the part of our mind/brain that is able
to encode and store information, experiences and skills.
It encodes, it stores and when needed, retrieves.
There are three main types of memory: short term,
long term and sensory.
Memory used to be likened to a filing cabinet but
these days research is indicating that it's more
like a super messy desk cluttered with big piles of paper.
Though it may be easier to find files in a
filing cabinet sorted logically, methinks that messy
is not without benefits.
Messiness allows us to find those fluky ''connections''
that we didn't expect to connect.
Since we do not have filing cabinets
we can come at a memory task from a number of different
angles such as: did I write the name down somewhere,
can I Google it, can I remember the letter the word
start with, does it rhyme with another word etc. etc. etc.?
When we fail to remember something it can be easy
to believe that memories can just vanish but
according to those in the know, that is not
the case.
We don't lose memories they are still there,
but because our frontal lobes(the part of our brain
where our memories live) shrink a little bit with aging,
sometimes our recall time may be less than
lightning fast.
But here's the thing......neuroscience research shows
that every time we revisit/recall a memory, it becomes
malleable(flexible) and our brains reconstructs them.
This is called reconsolidation which means that the memories
briefly become unstable and susceptible to being
changed(updated) to fit with our current feelings
on the memory before being saved again.
When I was managing a Jazz club in Stockholm
I had an experience that etched a memory
not only on my frontal lobes but also on the
inside of my eyelids, or so it seemed.
Next to the entrance to the Club there was a
male toilet that I had to unlock every night.
As I was always at the Club an hour before opening,
to get in, I would use the back entrance.
After turning on lights and other usual duties
I went to un-lock the front doors.
When I did so this particular night I noticed that
the door to the toilet was not closed
so obviously not locked.
As I pushed to open the door, I realized that there
was someone laying on the floor.
Face down, blood and urine every where and in the man's
right arm, a broken needle.
His body was cold to the touch and his skin
bluish white.
Dead. He was dead but still a human being and
as such, I felt that he deserved attention.
Shaking like a leaf and probably in shock, I called
for an ambulance, closed the door to the
toilet and then sat down on the steps,
lit a cigarette and waited for the ambulance.
Since then I have experienced so many absolutely
blood curling, heart stopping and mindboggling experiences
that I have had to ''file'' it somewhere.
I ''filed'' it under ''what a sad waste of a life'' heading
and then just put it on my very messy desk.
A very kind and wise man once told me when he was
helping me to deal with PTSD: When you get ''triggered''
by a traumatic memory .......replace it or pair it with
a helpful and new updated one.
Memories are not set in cement, they are malleable.
We can't change what has happened in the past
but we can change how we think and therefore
feel, about it.
''No memory is ever alone; it's at the end of a
trail of memories, trails that each have their
own associations.''
(Louis LĂmour)
About the image: Photo no editing, straight of the lens.
Folded paper is hard to make perfectly flat after it's been
folded. Alas, can a piece of paper have a memory of a fold?
