iguanamountain blog

MEMORY TRIGGERS

Found this (First published in Oct.2014) on Blogger:Posts on Blogger.com. Older words still have an echo . . .

MEMORY TRIGGERS
The repository of the human brain is extraordinary, and we use only a small percentage of the capacity. And there is the old adage, USE IT OR LOSE IT! I'm desperately trying to use it as much as possible. There are little, amazing triggers in the mental filing system that work for me. For instance:

MUSIC: Old tunes and songs from when I was 6 or 7 years-old sitting on the piano bench beside cousin Betty who was thumping the keys with the 40's pop music. I remember the entire scene; the piano, the stacks of sheet music, my uncles standing behind me singing. How much I loved it.

Newer music from musicals I've directed or choreographed. I remember the performers, the stage, standing back stage. Or when I was performing, I remember the moments on stage, what my body position was. Often just a second or two trigger by a fragment of music.

And get this: If I think about a specific part of my body, especially the right top shoulder, I can recall an injury doing a lift on stage when the girl didn't get up right. Or a leg extension that sprained when I was too tired; that moment on stage is linked exactly.

SMELLS: Certain smells of cooking food, or ripe fruit in an orchard or the smell of chicken feathers in boiling water or white Elmer's glue. At the first scent, I'm transported to another time and place for a split second. Certain perfumes send me to another person from long ago.

LOCATIONS: For fun, or for trying to fall asleep I try to remember each place I've lived. Like do I remember the kitchen or the bathroom. I find that with most I cannot remember cooking or taking a bath. But often I remember taking the dog out, especially in winter. I've never finished that process. Seventy decades of moving around is a lot of homes (and generations of dogs and cats).

All of the above are just little triggers inside my brain.
Outside in the physical world: I use the Internet, my computer, hard drive archives, photos, sketches, diagrams, sticky notes, and decades of journals. I remember faces, but have a difficult time with names. Old photos of relatives are usually a puzzler.

Isn't life interesting? But can you remember it?
 
Peace. >>>iggy