Memory Reflection

1. How would you begin the process of recovering your memory? Who would you turn to, where would you search, and how would you proceed?

Retrograde amnesia would be a huge problem for me as I have certain facts and events from the past that I cherish and some that are painful from a perspective. Even though some of these memories might be hard to accept, they are essential to our well being and survival, and it is what makes us unique. The initial step that I would take to recover my memories is to have a simple conversation with my family and ask them certain questions such as,

– Who are my closest/best friends and how do I contact them?

– Do we have a photo album that I can look at?

– What were some of my favorite activities?

Finding out who your best friends are– is essential since a good portion of your time is spent by hanging out and building a connection with someone outside of your family. They can reintroduce you to some of the happy moments, embarrassing, and sad moments.  This is also a good chance to reestablish connections with friends whom one might have not seen a quite a while. The second question refers to a photo album and it is critical as it will give me clues as to who I am and where I was at that moment in time. It is will enable me to gain my existence little by little simply by traveling. Remember that a photo is taken to hold that specific time in place so that you may return to it when you forget who you are. Lastly, being introduced to ones favorite activities/hobbies from the past can serve as a mnemonic device, which in turn will help me remember certain memories through repetition.

2. Please describe the emotional journey you imagine you would be going through as you attempt to reconstruct your life. Imagine the feelings you would have.

I believe that the emotional journey I’ll be going through will not only be sad at times but their will also be some happy/funny moments. For example, an experience that may provoke sadness is the realization that someone that you love has already passed away. Actually, most of the sorrowful experiences during this journey is the realization that something/someone that you love is just not there anymore. An example of a happy/funny moment might be a great mistake that you once made, a misunderstanding that you once frowned upon at that time but of which is not all that serious anymore. Overall, this journey will be harsh, emotionally, but it will also make me a greater person than I once was.

3. Suppose you were able to pick and choose the memories you wanted to recover from your life. What types of memories would you choose to retain and what types of memories might you decide to edit out of your remembered experience? Positive, negative, painful, happy, angry, frightened, etc. Please elaborate and explain some your decision making process.

I wouldn’t edit out any of my past experiences because that is like taking away a piece of who you really are as an individual. Having all the elements in place is what makes us perfect, regardless of whether or not some of the flaws within our memories. Darn, I was going to write some more stuff but I don’t remember… wait.. where am I? Who are you people?