Memories

With time, our memories start jumbling up, tangling, getting fuzzy.

I feel like I lived a lifetime from 15 to 20, then from 40 to 45 it was a blink. Some people say it’s the percentage of your life those years represent. I don’t think it works like that. I think i’ts a problem of us not being mindful of the things we live.

When you drive from work to home, you barely register what happened. If right after you arrive you try to remember what whas happenning in a certain block or street, most likely you won’t be able to recall it. That dynamic starts slowly happening with everything we live, especially in the cotidianity.

A few years ago, looking into this, I found this video from Johnny Harris. It made a lot of sense. He asks “what’s the most important thing that happened to you in April 2011?”

Right? Impossible to know.

This subject is very important to him too and he suggests a photo practice that helps being more mindful of the things we live. I won’t bother you with details, but it’s about constantly revisiting and curate out photos and videos from past days.

For instance, I just revisited my phone photos from this last weekend (a trip to the beach being the most important memory) and reduced 100+ photos and videos down to a few (probably less than 10). These photos are now my tangible memory of this weekend, and the process of revisiting and curate the whole thing consolidates the day into my memory, very much like telling or writting down your dreams right after waking up makes them permanent.