Bringing Back The Memories

I have been thinking a lot about both muscle and sense memory lately.  Marveling at little at the amazing machine (is that even the right word?) that the human brain and body is. 

Two experiences lately got me going down this road.

First one – I learned to sew as a child.  My mother made our clothes when we were kids, as well as her own clothing including winter coats, drapes for the home and so much more.  I made most of my own clothes until my first child was born; then my much-loved hobby went by the wayside.  I used to love sewing and am contemplating getting back into it. My old Sears machine, purchased in 1974 is a workhorse!  I haul it out occasionally for small projects and mending jobs.  A few weeks ago I decided to make new bean bags for our cottage corn hole game.  (It seems the multitude of chipmunks this year find the tasty dried corn in the bags very appealing and one by one the bags got chewed through.) Ok – back to the ‘memory’ part of it.  Have you ever threaded a sewing machine?  It is a multi-step process that is not one bit logical when you look at the machine.  I first looked at it and thought “I have no idea how to do this” and stared at the machine for several minutes.  Then I stopped 'thinking' (can you do that? ) reached for the thread and somehow my hands went through the convoluted 7-10 up-down-across process.  Voila - Success! There certainly was some kind of muscle/brain memory happening there. I was pretty impressed with myself!

How on earth does this happen when I can’t recall a book or tv show for more than a few hours.  I am not kidding! I’ll often tell a fellow book-lover that I just read a great book, then when they ask what it’s about I sort of frown and say “hmmm I finished it yesterday & have already started a new one, so...”  (please note that I can remember my phone number from when I was 10 years old –it actually started with a word –Howard)

The second example is more of an ongoing thing. It is more of a “sense memory”.  This is when a sound, smell or experience elicits a visceral feeling.  This one is extremely powerful: when I get a peek of water through some trees a hit of excitement and joy goes through my body.  This goes right back to when I was a wee little thing.  Our family vacation each year was a 2 week cottage rental.  My parents and 4 cousin families all rented cottages on the same lake every August until I was a pre-teen.  This was a highlight of my year! As our car got closer to our destination, peeks of the lake would appear through the treed area and my excitement would grow to where I’d just about explode. Isn’t it crazy that at 69 the same feeling hits me when I glimpse water through trees?  In fact as we approach our own cottage, I deliberately peer out the window through the trees just to elicit that little burst of joy.  Well, I like that feeling – what can I say?

I was really interested in this phenomena; this article about Memory and the Five Senses explains it a little bit. I can truly identify with this line: "Looking at a photo from a childhood holiday, you can feel the sun on your skin, the sea, the sound of waves, and the taste of seawater."

How about you? Are there sights or sounds that trigger strong emotional memories? I'd love to hear about them. Me? I'm going to quit worrying about my current memory concern ie: why did I come upstairs? I know that it's just a part of aging. It's more fun to search out tastes, smells, sights and sounds that bring back wonderful memories and give us that little jolt that brightens our day!

Pat xo