The brain is a microcosm creating its own stories. People then live out these stories.
- Kirima Seiichi
- Kirima Seiichi
If I had to define what a moment is, I would say it is the individual perspective of a specific event of which one has a memory. Maybe that doesn't sound very interesting, yet it is, when one considers how much we experience in our lives and how much we subsequently forget. If something stays with us, this is not without reason. It has somehow affected or impressed us. I suppose this might be different for people with photographic memories, or maybe for everyone- I have long been of the opinion that generalisations generally are dangerous.
I often stop and think about this, even while I'm in a completely ordinary, uninteresting situation. I feel I lose so much. Constantly. I realise that this is inevitable and that troubles me. Yet perhaps it must be so- in order for there to be an extraordinary, there must be an ordinary, and it would seem our life is spent creating this situation.
I remember so little from my childhood. I know it was good. I know my parents, they are good people. I see the photos, the child is always smiling, the child who was I, and yet is a stranger to me.
I am sometimes told by others that I have a great memory. But they are only comparing me to themselves.
In a dining area on a college campus, five, six years ago, I became painfully aware of this evanescence. I stared at a potted plant, more specifically its small green leaves, each one perhaps two inches long... you know what, I don't really know anymore what the plant looked like. The moment wasn't about the probably quite ordinary piece of decoration. It was about my desire to remember. I stared at it and thought, I will remember this moment, I will not let it be devoured by the void of time, I will keep and cherish it, it belongs to me.
I seem to have no choice but to agree with Devon, for it is surely a fact: a moment cannot be recreated. All we have is "the illusion of memories" (Kirima) Photos and videos can be surprisingly ineffectual triggers, nothing more.
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I often stop and think about this, even while I'm in a completely ordinary, uninteresting situation. I feel I lose so much. Constantly. I realise that this is inevitable and that troubles me. Yet perhaps it must be so- in order for there to be an extraordinary, there must be an ordinary, and it would seem our life is spent creating this situation.
I remember so little from my childhood. I know it was good. I know my parents, they are good people. I see the photos, the child is always smiling, the child who was I, and yet is a stranger to me.
I am sometimes told by others that I have a great memory. But they are only comparing me to themselves.
In a dining area on a college campus, five, six years ago, I became painfully aware of this evanescence. I stared at a potted plant, more specifically its small green leaves, each one perhaps two inches long... you know what, I don't really know anymore what the plant looked like. The moment wasn't about the probably quite ordinary piece of decoration. It was about my desire to remember. I stared at it and thought, I will remember this moment, I will not let it be devoured by the void of time, I will keep and cherish it, it belongs to me.
I seem to have no choice but to agree with Devon, for it is surely a fact: a moment cannot be recreated. All we have is "the illusion of memories" (Kirima) Photos and videos can be surprisingly ineffectual triggers, nothing more.
I find it difficult to decide which moments are my most cherished. I cherish them all, they make up the the story- my story. Yet if I had to....
I might choose those in which I wept.
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Significance in the insignificant. I am tempted to attempt creating a moment, but I know it won't be real. Still, if I think about creating a moment long enough the conclusions my thoughts lead to could leave me with a moment. Also, I like alliteration.
AntwortenLöschenI like that you refer to photos and videos and "surprisingly ineffectual triggers." I have never been much of a picture-taker and sometimes wish I was. Now I can ascribe a higher principle to it. I too, have tried to make a point to remember something for remembrance sake. It just doesn't seem to work that way.
AntwortenLöschenI sometimes enjoy seeing other's photos and sometimes wish I would not forget my camera so consistently... yet the person is not to be envied, who constantly photographs his life and uploads thousands of photos on Facebook, photos with many different people at all the parties he's ever been to, with captions like "Kara and me", "Louise and me", a different photo, a different person, the same smile. There is something desperate and sad about this- it almost seems like a cry for help.
AntwortenLöschenI'm happy to be able to provide you with higher principles anytime, Devon.
Johnathan, the problem might be, if one tries it too regularly, it could become less and less effectual. (I've never had any amount of success since the potted plant). Though if your chain of thought is different each time, it could work. If anyone can pull it off, it's you.
I also don't think what you just did counts as alliteration, but you're the one with an English degree...
Yeah, the alliteration was a bit of a stretch, but I did merely say that I like alliteration, not that I was using it. That was just an added bonus...
AntwortenLöschenThanks for the confidence anyways. Maybe I could pull it off...