6. The dead are surprised by their memories. “They might go weeks and months without thinking of the houses and neighborhoods they had grown up in, their triumphs of shame and glory, the jobs, routines, and hobbies that had slowly eaten away their lives, yet the smallest, most inconsequential episode would leap into their thoughts a hundred times a day, like a fish smacking its tail on the surface of a lake” [p. 11]. Does this seem an accurate description of how memory often works? Why would the dead forget the important things and remember the trivial ones?
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » TDK Book Club
The Brief History of the dead--Question 6
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Okay this might not make much sense, but here is a thought I have on memories. Sometimes I find weird memories being triggered by strange occurances. Such as a certain smell can trigger a very odd memory. Sometimes a smell, sound, or taste can trigger a memory that is very vivid. My husband was looking in my mother's recipe box and fixing something--the next thing I remember reading Nancy Drew books when she made that cookie. I ended up going to get a Nancy Drew book to read. The smell of carrots reminds me of my daughter teething--don't really know why. Some times the trivial memories are more important than we think.
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I know what you mean, SM. I bought a CD of an old Peter, Paul and Mary record that I remembered my parents having when I was a kid. (I didn't seek it out, it caught my eye from the discount bin.) When I got home and played it, two distinct memories came back with such force it was almost like a hallucination. "Lemon Tree" was playing, and suddenly I was standing in our old living room, my mother was vacuuming and I was waiting in the doorway for her to finish. I could even see every piece of furniture. Then "Stewball" played, and I was sitting next to my Dad while he played the guitar and we sang together. I even remembered the feeling I had, looking up at him with admiration. I was about 5 when we lived in the house that the memories sprang from. All this from a song!
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It has been proven that smell is one of the most powerful influences in triggering memories. I don't really think that the dead remembering the "trivial" aspects of their lives is very different from most of our memories. One day, in one of the rare rain showers that we have here, the smell of the rain triggered such a vivid memory from when I was a child. I could see it as if it were yesterday, even down to the dress that I had on. It was after a rain storm in El Paso and my mother let me go out and make mudpies. I could remember in detail all of the little dishes that she let me haul out to play in the mud. I certainly hadn't thought of that in many, many years.
Posted 7 months ago by WillowandWindismom #
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