Memories
My son celebrated his birthday this weekend. It was lots of fun and he got some pretty cool gifts. I always find it interesting to think that, my kids are building memories at every turn. Years from now my son may remember this birthday because it was his first time bowling or because he got some cool Pokemon toys and got to go to Mc Donalds. Or he might not remember it at all. Lost in the sea of thoughts and experiences that we all store in our heads.
I’d like to think that I can remember quite a lot of my time as a kid. Not everything of course. My earliest memories are playing with my Spider-Man toy in the living room of our town house, touching the base of a hot iron and putting on finger puppet plays with my Mom. I think I was about 3 or 4. The collection of memories seems pretty good from when I was young. As I get older though I find that I can’t remember the day to day stuff as well as I used to. It’s kind of scary to think that there are events in your life that as just gone. I do suppose that something could trigger them as they’re still in your head somewhere. Never truly forgotten… just sort of lost.
How far back can you remember?
Play Asia
March 5th, 2012 at 12:55 am
Taking a stroll through memory lane is probably something I do the least. I have trouble remembering what I did last week, let alone what happened to me when I was a wee lad. Not to say nothing is there.
I remember the first house my family lived in. My younger brother and I shared a bunk bed and had a small room attached for toys, games, etc. I remember getting my very first NES. For the next month we were constantly in that room playing Mario and Duck Hunt. Good times!
March 5th, 2012 at 11:51 am
i remember my third birthday, which in fact was 16 years ago today. i think thats my oldest memory that i have.
March 6th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Well, happy birthday to you! ^_^
March 9th, 2012 at 10:07 am
thanks Joe. sorry it took me so long to respond ^.^’
March 5th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
I can remember back as far as being in kindergarten, but sometimes it feels like impressions of memories. Like events from that time are compressed into one amalgamous memory. There are a few standout memories, but the rest just meld together.
I recently went by my old school and was amazed at how small it was. When I was a kid, it seemed immense. When you’re only 3 feet tall, it messes with your perspective. Same with time. When your a kid, a day seems like a week, and a year seemed like forever.
Sometimes outside stimuli jog my memory. The smell of diesel exhaust makes me think of ice cream. Thats because of me standing by the ice cream truck that came down our street everyday in the summer. Did a smell ever jog a long forgotten memory in you?
March 5th, 2012 at 10:45 pm
yes, in fact, diesel fuel also reminds me of a memory. My dad was on the fire department in my hometown for a while, so every time i smell diesel it reminds me of the fire trucks
March 6th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
I’d love to travel back to my old schools. I live quite far from them right now, but one day I’ll make it back. I’d love to talk to the students there about art and stuff. ^_^
March 5th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
I remember living in a foreign land when I was a kid. Somewhere between 2 – 5 yrs old. Not sure which memory was the furthest back, but they were probably closer to being 5. I remember steve austin, and superman action figures. I remember bread backed in clay ovens on street corners, being in a small store with my mom. And another memory of sitting at a dinner table eating by my self while everyone else watched tv in the living room. I remember the street in front of our apartment winding up into the mountains.
March 6th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Wow, that’s crazy! Those are some awesome memories for sure. What foreign land did you live in?
March 9th, 2012 at 1:01 am
I lived in Tehran, Iran. We moved ther when I was 2, we left when I was 5 because of the revolution something about death to America not really working for my parents.
March 6th, 2012 at 7:42 am
Given how easy it is to create a false sense of memory in people, I take what is probably an unusual attitude toward my memory. This doesn’t go for all memories, mostly the ones that are more removed in time, or are of events for which I didn’t care all that much. Whenever I see a picture of other people’s lives, I always imagine a context in which the picture was take. Why does that lady not look quite so comfortable having her picture taken? Is shy camera-shy? Did she and the man in the disheveled shirt have an argument recently? In much the same way, I treat memories of my own past (even ones with associated photographs) as imagined scenarios. It isn’t until I feel confident that I have enough independent confirmation of the events that I am comfortable affirming it as a legit memory. Again, I might be a bit of an odd cat, but them’s the breaks.
March 6th, 2012 at 10:58 am
I remember reading an a quite article about false memories that we create ourselves. It’s scary to think that the human brain can be so fragile that we can fool even ourselves with no outside influence.