Memories

On Saturday I attended a reunion of people involved in a play I acted in many years ago, when I was at university.   It was good to see them again, and I recognised faces if not names.  However, as we talked and reminisced I realised how little detail I remembered of that time, and some quite significant events had left my memory altogether.

It did not worry me, and I know that each of the people there will have a very different recollection and perspective of a shared experience, retaining certain memories and releasing others as unnecessary for their growth and learning.  If a memory is distorted, as often happens, then it may be because the truth is uncomfortable or because the false memory is helpful - a part of the play we have written, directed and are starring in for this lifetime.

Yes, memories change and fade... and one day will not be there at all.  A number of people I know are concerned about short-term memory loss: don't be.  Our memory patterns are changing  in surprising ways and this will become more and more apparent as minds become the subject not the ruler.  Laugh about it, with me.