Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Memories - Good or Bad

I have a pretty good memory when it comes to things that have happened in my life - I can remember things from as far back as 4 years old. Lots of things can trigger memories - talking about experiences, TV shows, books, pictures, music, smells, etc. The main trigger for me is music - songs from the past and songs about experiences I can relate to. I give my sister a hard time because she doesn't remember a lot of things that have happened. I got to thinking though that maybe my sister has it better than me - although most memories are happy there are those that bring sadness, anger, and regret.

I have never seen the Jim Carrey movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - the premise is that you could have the sad and regretful memories erased. What would that be like? When a song came on that was from your past and is linked to a sad time - like a break-up - would you remember the song but not the feelings? Would you only remember the good times from when that song played?

If you no longer have the sad/regretful memories will you be a different person? Is it the experiences we have or the memories of those experiences that make us who we are? For example,

  • Your first true love, the feelings of being cherished, the sad break-up, the regrets of not doing things differently.
  • Regrets for decisions made like going to a school, living in a city, not going out with someone.
  • The wondering about What If? Would things be different if I had just made this one different decision?

Do these contribute more than just making you sad every time the memory comes up – every time the song is played?

Sometimes I would like to try the memory erase - I think it would make life easier.

Comments – Thoughts?

De

***If your wondering what got me thinking - Taylor Swifts song Fifteen***

2 comments:

Crawfords said...

My goodness, you're quite the philosophical blogger these days aren't you? I say it's the experiences with the memories that makes you who you are. Without either, you wouldn't be the same. Sad as they may be, those memories had a part in who you are today. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

putbory said...

One of my favorite movies! Ever! I think because it addresses the question that everyone at some point in his/her life has had: What if. And I think most people have a memory that hurts so much that they really do wish that memory erase existed. But I think one of the prerequisites for becoming a stronger person is being able to live with the memories and being able to cherish them, good and bad, and then moving on, and I think that Eternal Sunshine illustrated that very poignantly. :)