Group B’s reflection post is due on Friday, October 28  at 11:59pm
Groups A & C’s comments are due on Friday, November 4th at 11:59pm

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

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.

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.

Comment prompt:

Imagine you are a longtime friend of the person who wrote one of the reflection pieces, and consider these issues for your own comment.

1. What is your reaction to the choices made by the author of this Reflection in terms of which memories they chose to keep and which memories they are discarding.

2. How would you feel if this friend did not remember you (imagining that you are their longtime friend)?

3. What role might you play in helping them reconstruct their memory?

4. Based on what you’ve learned in class and through your readings, what memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval techniques might you use or teach to help this person recover and reintegrate their memories?

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?

In this process of recovering my memories, I would first look to my family members to help guide me through this emotional journey. Having no recollection of my past, I’d be very cautious on who I can trust. I would go through all my belongings, pictures, social networking sites and phone just to familiarize myself with what makes me who I am and to see what kind of relationships I had with my friends. I would possibly create a facebook event asking everyone to explain the type of relationship I had with them, whether good or bad, close or not. This way, I can try to figure out who are my real friends and who are just my acquaintances.  I think it is best to recover the latest memories and work my way back to when I was a child.

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.

The thought of having no recollection of my past, a life that I once lived but do not remember is heartbreaking and devastating. Knowing myself, depression is not something that is unusual for me so this whole process of trying to remember will definitely put me in a dark stage. Loneliness is something I will feel often, only because everyone is still a stranger in my eyes. Also, my lack of patience will trigger a lot of anger and frustration with the super slow process of trying to remember every single event that occurred in my life.

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.

Although life is a learning experience, if  I was given the chance to forget some of the events in my life, I would. Of course, I’d recover all the happy memories but some events in particular don’t necessarily fall under the category of memory but instead, just a bad dream. I don’t think these events were necessary in my life. It seems to be a distraction of the happier things I can be reminiscing about.

When I opened my eyes, the strong light hurt my eyes. My mind was blank; I tried to figure out who I was and why I stayed here. All I can remember was that I was struck by a falling object. I was surrounded by a woman and man who told me that they are my parents. I was so confused about everything around me. I didn’t have the ability to judge everybody. I was so depressed in the hospital. A few days later, I was a little bit excited because I can leave the hospital and went back to the “home” that “my parents” told me. In my bedroom, I sat in the chair and tried to relax myself. I found a book on the desk which is “The Catcher in the Sky”. is it my favorite book, am I a person who likes reading and writing? All kinds of questions came to my mind. When I watched around, I found some photos on the wall and then forced myself to think of the stories behind these pictures. I must be intimate with these people because I was so happy in the pictures. They must be my best friends who share the same interests with me. “mum.” I turned to my mother, “can you tell me who are they in the photos? Are they my best friends? Where can I find them?” my mother answered patiently then. After knowing that I have so many good friends and so many fantastic memories, I regained the confidence to meet the challenges that come from different directions.
The next day, I made phone calls to “my best friends” to begin my recovery journey. They were so excited to see me and took me to a lot of places where we had fun together. I almost forgot that I lost my memory. I really didn’t matter anymore, although my memory was gone, our relationships were there forever.
There may be unhappy things I may not want to regain of cause. Nobody wants to recall the sad moments in their lives. But I will, it is those happy and unhappy memories that make who I am. If I want to be “me”, I need to regain everything. For a patient who lost the memory, I have the right and responsibility to know everything that I knew in the past. I lost my memories, It didn’t mean that I should not be responsible for what I did in the past. If I owned somebody thousand dollars, I should pay him thousand dollars, I can’t ask other people to bear that. That can’t be me. I don’t want to take losing memory as an excuse for my behaviors.

As most people wake up from a serious illness or event, I suppose family and friends supporting you would be an immediate comfort. They would tell you the basics of what your life has been like although they might take advantage of this to change you. I would probably look all around places I’ve been before my whole life and see if what I see now corresponds to what I used to see in hopes that I might remember and glean some information about life before the mysterious falling object. Places like my home and schools are primarily what I’ve spent most of my life in and so I would search these areas first.
The emotional part of the journey might come after remembering everything since if everything was forgotten, everything would be foreign. As the journey begins, probably frustration and confusion for things people expect you to know but you can’t bring yourself to recall. Afterwards, there might be a sense of deja vu when seeing places that were familiar or some sense of nostalgia.
I think I would try to remember as much as possible from the incident as all the experiences I’ve had shaped me into who I am. To not remember negative experiences for connivence sounds a lot like running away from who you are. If you wanted to change yourself, you should do it consciously rather than use some lame excuse like (retrograde) amnesia.

The Memory recover process will be a tough task to accomplish, but nothing is impossible. I will start my recovery by looking at pictures, things that I wrote about others, look into my cell phone messages, contacts, even Facebook on my cell phone. I most likely will turn to my family the first time because they are the one’s that take care of my well being and than after that I will search for the friends and other members of the family observed in the pictures, cell phone, Facebook, and try to get information that will help me get back on my life.

It will be an emotional journey all my friends and family will come over to talk about my life and things that happened during my life, and I ll be standing there and just feeling good about things that I did right, and feel depressed about the wrong doings. Also it would be heart breaking because i wouldn’t know anything about my family and my friends, things such as: celebrations, birthdays, and many different things. Hopefully as time goes on I will start to recover all the good memories.

Obviously as everyone, I would choose the good memories, the moments that made me happy in life and recycle  all the negative memories. I believe that this accident will make me happier in some way because I wouldn’t care about bad experiences that happened in the  past, and  move on to a much better life.

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?
i would look at any of my old pictures with friends and family, try to revisit the places, try to draw pictures of what i can remember. i would def. turned to my family and best friends, call them all up and see what i can recover, see what sup.

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.
emotional man i cant even imagine, there are no words to describe how i would feel, but i guess i would be scared, nervous, depress if i dont remeber anyone. basically i would feel like shit.
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.
there is one memory i would like to completly forget like freaken disappeare it. its a memory of this girl i love when i was in high school. i loved this chick to the death, spend more then 4 yrs tried to convice her i am the right guy for her. she dated this loser who was older then her, not even graduated high school, for 2 yrs and then spend 2 yrs forgeting him, all this time i was there for her. and the result was like shit.”o i will always love u as a friend.” now when i think back about the experience and the memories, i regret the TIME and money i wasted. all of the rest of memory i was keep, recover, and not edit it.

1.

God forbid, if I had lost all of my past memory, I would have to turn all of those who know me best, family, close friends, even past teachers, and professors. Anyone who has some type of information on who I “was” will be my only hope in me trying to get as close as possible to who I am “now”, because without any form of past memory, my present self would be inaccurate on insignificant to what my personality should be. In addition to hearing any forms of how I once was, I would have to personality see images of my once self as well, so photo albums, any recordings with me in it. Even notebooks and text messages and anyother form of writing, to gain a perspective of my personality, would also be useful to gain as much knowledge of my past self.

2.

First and foremost, to hear dozens of individuals and seeing a various amount of pictures, of how I once was, is emotionally unbearable
in itself. Just knowing that all these people can say so much about you and you can’t remember a single thing is frustrating and hard to the heart to cope with. Similar to an alzheimer’s patient who is searching thoroughly for their glasses, up and down, all over the place, and then have someone tell you they’re on your face. It’s embarrassing, among other emotional feelings that’s just hard to imagine. To be at an adult age, a past life full of memories and experiences that made you who you are, and cannot remember a single spec of it.

3.

I would pick everysingle memory, I would’nt want to skip a single beat, Everysingle thing, the good, bad, pain, pleasure, ups and downs, everysingle thing, because one memory will be simply useless without the others to exist with it an create a stable balance. What kind of life will I live if all I can remember are good things? I would then become obliviant to all the bad the world has to offer. If i want any shot to being who i once “was”, everysingle memory counts!

First of all I would have to find out who I am, my name, where I am coming from etc. To do that I would give my fingerprints to the police so I can find my name. Police would I guess try to help me but I would like to search too. Then I will ask help from “good old” Google. I would find everything about me on internet and pretty soon I would be with my family.
I would not try to find all people I know, because I believe that recovering process would be better and faster if I take it slow. If medication already exist, I wouldn’t rush to try to get all memories with all people I knew. Memories that I had with my family would be probably easier to get back. Before I start therapy with new medication, I would try for a some time to bring memory back without any medicine. If that medicine would exist I think it would have some dangerous side effects. After all it has to do something with the most sensitive part of the brain, and even if it could help me bringing back my memories it can develop some other problem.
My family would be the main source of getting information about me, and depends of what information I get I would think about my next step. If for example they say that I had a girlfriend and we were for long time together and we had a lot of common things, I would go to her, and I would try to remember something. I would ask her or my family about some specific characteristics of me such as some place that I would like to spend time there. I would go to that place in order to get my memories back. Only if after few months there is no improvement I would start with medication, but it would be small doses and all that time that I am using medication people with who I was close before tragedy would be with me, still reminding me about my past experience that in their opinion should left the strongest emotions. If my amygdala is not damaged I would try to recall some tragic moments from my past life, because those memories is easier to recall.
Of course that process of recalling memories of tragic events would not be painless, however I would ask people who are helping me to recover those memories and who were part of them to try to make some slow introduction in order to get me prepared for tragic news.
There is no any memory that I would like to not get back, because that was part of my identity, that was who I am, and if people who were with me when those tragic events occurred can have them, than I would like to get even those memories back. If I choose to not get back bad memories than I would feel that I was somehow privileged and that would be against my personality because I don’t want to have any privilege compered to others. Finally at the end when I recover all my memories would play a game, maybe I would try to seduce some of my girl friends that I liked before accident pretending that I still don’t remember anything and to see they reaction.

In the case that I suffered from retrograde amnesia but had the opportunity to regain my memories through medication and guidance I would philosophize. “Do memories help make me who i am? yes”.   At this point I would say “it is impossible to know who i am without knowing what I have experienced therefore it is vital to remember everything”.  My conclusion is that all memories are valuable in a good way, never bad.  This is justified by every experience in life, good or bad, having intrinsic value to knowledge.  To refute a single memory would be denying myself knowledge.

I would initially not know who to trust to help guide me through the memory recovery process.  I would therefore initially not tell anyone that I had lost my memory.  All that i would do would be go to my usual “hangout spots” and coheres my friends to talk about our past. (this is under the principal that while i may not know their name or our relation I can still recognize them) This charade can not last forever so inevitably I would have to tell them that i lost my memory.  Hopefully however this deception would have bought me enough time that I gained a good perspective of individual relationships and the degree I can trust each person. (just thinking this way would lead me to ask why am i so non-trusting?) So my first step was, to the best of my abilities, resume normal life.

I can imagine this being an emotional roller-coaster.  Remembering all the good times would seem okay but remembering all the bad times would open deep wounds.  This is because while i can look back at my good memories favorably they do not excite the same emotions as was had while experiencing them.  For the bad memories however negative emotions seem to have stronger bonds.  How many times do you think about something you have done, maybe years ago, and say to yourself “man that was so stupid, embarrassing,etc” then, afterwords, you feel bad?  It seems like that happens more frequently than the opposite, having a good memory then feeling good.  All this being said i will remind myself that it is for the ascertainment of knowledge and since I got over it once so can I again. Push Forward!

Through the whole process the reason why I will feel the most frustrated is the fact that i have to spend all this time actively remembering what i once knew instead of experiencing new things and learning more. The one thing that i would want to remember above all else is that no matter what happens in life you better make the best of it because it is the only one you get, live with no regrets because spending time thinking about them will only inhibit the potential of how great you can become.

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?

I would turn to my family first, because I think I have the highest chance of remembering them. Hopefully, they’ll give me a better sense of who I am and what happened to me. I’d want to turn to my boyfriend and best friends too, but I’m not sure if I’ll remember who they are. I’ll start by browsing through my computer for photos and videos. I always take a lot of pictures when I hang out with my friends, so I have huge collections of photo memories on my computer. Looking through photos will hopefully spark some memories. I wouldn’t approach my friends first though, because I’ll still feel lost and confused. Besides, if they were my good friends, they would already be trying to contact me.

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 would definitely feel very lost and confused, because I wouldn’t know who I am. I’ll probably feel overwhelmed because I wouldn’t know where I’m headed in life, and what I want to do with my life. I’m not sure whether I’ll feel upset about losing my memory or not, because I probably won’t even realize that I forgot everything from my past. I imagine I might feel really relaxed and carefree, because I wouldn’t have anything to be stressed about.

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 am generally a very happy and optimistic person, so I haven’t had any negative or painful memories that affected me really strongly. I would probably choose to retain all different types of memories. If I choose to retain only happy and positive memories, my life would be too much of a fairytale and I would be too naive. I want to maintain some precautions against strangers. Also, remembering painful experiences will make me treasure the happy ones even more.

If I were to lose all my explicit memory in an accident, the first step would be to try and recover my episodic memories. Although semantic memory is very important, if I were to suddenly wake up in a hospital bed and not remember a single event with the ones around me, I would not think about recovering my semantic memory at first. Because of the emotional roller coaster it must be to suffer retrograde amnesia, I imagine I would like to know who the people around me were and what happened in my life time with them that caused them to be by my side at such a terrible situation. Therefore, the first people I would turn to would be my closest friends and families and use their memories with and of me in order to reconstruct my life. I would also look at family and friends pictures and videos. I suspect that the act of doing all this research might help my brain in recovering memories on its own with the help of the medication.

The emotional journey would definitely  be very confusing and frightening, yet very endearing as I would be reliving important memories with the people most important in my life. I believe at some point I might even feel as though I am very alone, because even though I have my family and friends to help me get through such a difficult time, I don’t feel as connected with them because I cannot remember being with them and cannot remember anything about them. It would be a very empty and dark situation.

Although many people might say they would only like to remember positive and happy memories, I differ in my choice simply because negative and/or painful memories might be very important events that have shaped the person I have come to be. I would not like to exclude such memories just because they would not please me. Both good and bad memories are important for a person who has lost all episodic memory.

A. First, take note of the moods you’ve experienced.

I would say I’m quite anxious today because of a swim meet I’m participating in tomorrow.

B. Assess your overall level of anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10.

Not too anxious, about a 5 or so.

C. Assess the level of physical tension in your body- where do you notice the tension? Try rating your overall tension on a scale of 1 to 10.

My back that’s about a 9. And just in general is about a 6.

III. After you have finished your meditation, re-asses your state of mind and body.
A. Reassess your mood on the chart.

I am happy and confident.

B. Reassess your level of anxiety from 1 to 10.

My level of anxiety is close to none. I’d say a 1.
C. Reasses your level of physical tension and rate it from 1 to 10.

My physical tension is about a 3.

IV. Describe the experience– What type of meditation did you choose? Describe what was going on in your mind and your body, what kind of thoughts and sensations did you experience during the meditation? Were there any challenging or frustrating aspects of the experience, and if so, what were they? Would you try this again in the future? Why or why not?

I chose a guided meditation by “Gil Fronsdal” on Confidence and the Breath. I was thinking about confidence on what I was going to do this week. In the beginning I was trying to focus on confidence in the past, the future, and the foundations of confidence. I focused on my breathing, I was trying not to think. It was frustrating how I kept on letting myself down, thoughts kept on popping into my brain about the events of my day. After a few minutes, I started to enjoy the meditation. The instructor really helped me orient myself so that I would have my breath to focus on, and to focus on the present. My muscles started to relax and it was just a wonderful feeling. It helped to orient myself and my thoughts. I would definitely try this again in the future but a different type of meditation. I took a yoga class before where we focused on the colors of our auras, and it was very interesting. Certain colors of our auras represented different thoughts in our mind. Overall, this was an enjoyable experience.

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?
Well I would hope that if I were in any serious accident like this, I would wake up to people claiming to be my family. This might be the hardest part, not because I dislike my family, but because it would be the first thing I would have to trust. I might choose to not believe my sister is my sister, that’s because I’m not a fan of her. But I guess I’d have to trust them or I’d be stuck eating hospital food, and working up a nice bill, plus without these people claiming to be my parents I wouldn’t have an insurance card. So I’d probably just go with them.

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.
It definitely would not be easy to just have to believe people. I barely believe people now. I would probably rely on pictures the most. I would definitely be frustrated a lot. There would be so much to learn over. People’s names, street names, and I know I would be furious when I found out the price of an unlimited monthly metrocard. I would be upset a lot. There is so much information we need on a daily basis that without question we know; my social, my date of birth, and now I’ve got to walk around with it all written down. And if i lose that, and someone steals my identity then im really screwed. How do I argue with authorities that someone isn’t me, when I dont know me? Frustrated is most likely how I would feel. Having so many questions about everything, and not being positive if the people you “know” are steering you in the right direction sounds frustrating.

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.
Well I would definitely cancel out embarrassing memories, I’ve been trying to think of an example but I might have already erased them. I would accept all of the positive memories as true, although it would be upsetting knowing you did all these great things but don’t have the experience you should. Like vacations, you can look at pictures and build the memories again but I don’t know if thats the same as having the experience. It would be difficult to retain frightening memories because I feel for the most part they are experiences you would choose not to live again. Retaining a lot of our memories would be difficult, because it kind of wouldn’t be us living it, we just heard we did it. Say after the accident I went to a party, and someone was talking about England, would I say “I heard I’ve been there before, and I heard I enjoyed it”? That sounds crazy. I think I might choose to listen to people tell me about the memories I’ve had, but really focus on making new ones.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

-I would begin the process of recovering my memory by visiting places I’ve been to while growing up such as schools, parks, friends houses and such locations. I would turn to my family and friends to guide me through the process to try and recover these memories for me. I would also start searching at my home to bring up any memories to my best extent.
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.

-The emotional journey that I would be going through would be very rough. I would be very confused as to why I don’t remember these memories. I would also feel like I’m trapped inside this life that I have no feelings for. If I were able to recover some of the memories though, I would start to feel a little more hopeful because it would make me believe that all these things that the people around me are telling the truth. I would be able to trust them with my life in recovering who I am.

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 would choose to retain all my memories because every memory that has a different impact could be the memory that might make me remember everything all over again. Even though there would be certain memories that I would not want to keep such as ones that may be persistent or ones I choose to block, every memory was a part of who I am.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

To begin my process of recovering my memory, I would first turn to the people who helped me throughout childhood and adolescence-my parents, brother, relatives,  and friends. I have many memories with these people and if I start spending time with them, hopefully all my forgotten memories will slowly come back. I would also revisit the places I spend most of my time such as: home, school, work,  church, mall, and Manhattan. If I looked at past and present pictures, I think I would force myself to remember because there is proof that specific events did happen once in my life.

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.

It would be a difficult and confusing journey for me. I would have no one to turn to and no where to go to. There are certain people I see and places I go when I am in a specific mood, and if I were to lose my memory, I would not know what to do. I would feel lonely and confused, and think that no one else understands myself but me.

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.

Throughout my life, I never had the feeling that I wanted to erase a memory or change it in some way. I feel that every memory allowed me to grow as a person and helped me in some way. Editing a memory will not change what actually happened. As we learned in class, we remember negative and emotion-filled memories more than other memories. Every memory, the good and the bad, can maybe help me regain all my memories back again.

To begin the process of recovering the lost memories, I would look at old photographs and videos kept by my parents. The settings represented in the photographs and tape could stimulate some recall of what I did at those specific places. Of course, I would have to turn to my family for help in remembering those memories, for they were present in most of my life.

More than likely I would have a sense of being lost and confused in trying to piece together the whole entire past. Even if I can turn to my family, I probably would not even recognize them. So the feeling of being alone would be strong. Not only being alone, but fearing of who I can trust in going through the process of recalling my memories. Someone can make the claim I made the internet, and I would go through the rest of my life in disillusion believing that I did so. So my perception of what is true and false can be a skewed, for I cannot recall the past.

If I was able to pick out certain memoires, I would choose those memories of pain as well as happiness, for those two categories are probably most vital in normal function throughout life. Those memoires of pain would help me know what dangers to avoid and what actions not to perform in order to not feel pain in the future. Those memoires of happiness would give me the knowledge of what things are worth remembering, such as family and close friends and those events that created moments of joy in my life. Also with the knowledge of what makes me happy or hurt, I can acquire the knowledge of my past personality.

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?

I will start my medication first by taking the medicine and listening advises from my doctor. Second, I will look for the help from my family and friends.  There are chance that I might be evoke my past memories by associate with the things and people I familiar with. The photos, place I go most often, my closest friends and even my house can help me to restore my losing memories.  In addition, I will try to see the psychologist for the mental therapy.  Even they can’t help me with the memories, they could still help me to face this challenge.

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.

Of course, I will feel frighten and helpless at the beginning.  When I wake up, the whole world changed, I need to face the people never appear in your memories.  Confusion will come up in my mind that I need call those “strangers” as my family and friends.  It is difficult for me to accept all the truth. I might denial at first, but slow accept the reality.  I will try to recognize and remember everything relates to me. Then, look for the things or people which are important and meaningful to me. Try my best to experience my previous life again. By there, I could either get my memories back or loss them forever. But I will continue my life with the happiness, but not knock down by the challenge.

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.

If there are way to recover my part of memories I will choose to remember the most important people in my life which include my family and the best friend.  Furthermore, I will decide to keep the painful memory I have, because the painful memory is most impressed memories for me.  Even thought, it will be bitter for me but all of these will reflect what kind person I might be.  The painful memories might be more personal, because I always share the happiness but not pains.  Losing memory would change my life, it just brings me to experience the life one more time.

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?

I would start by being with my family because they are the people who took care of me since I was born. I have spent most of my time with them and they are able to help me recollect my past. Going through albums, family photos, or even talking about past events that were fun. I would even go to the places that I liked the most. Then I would talk to friends who are really close.

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.

At first it would be tough because I would be unaware of the situation and repeatedly remember the accident that had happened. I probably would have insomnia because of the stress of trying to remember something that is not even there. Once I know I have support from friends and family I would feel better trying to remember something without being afraid. If I do get my memories back completely I would probably cry tears of joy.

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 would want to remember happy memories because it is a drive that would help me move on with my life. Remembering the good times makes we want to do more with what I have now. Happy memories lead to recollections of more detailed information that was lost. Recalling other types of memories are also good in it’s own way but remembering something that was made to last and comfort is needed when one has retrograde amnesia.

I would begin my recovering process by listening the songs that I used to like. Of course I would not remember any songs that I used to like, but I am sure I would find the songs that I saved in my ipod and computer before I injured. Recovering in my own room is very important because I used to have a life in the room. I sure I would somehow feel close when I discover something like pictures, clothes, and diary. Even if I don’t feel anything about them, I would at least know what kind of person I used to be.

During the process, I am sure that there would be a lots of frustrating moments. I might want to give up, and not think about anything, but just live on a new life. However, the emptiness must bother me all the time. I could not have a nice chat with my old friends because I don’t even remember them. During this period, I would lose my temper always or maybe I would be extremely silent.

If I could choose to pick my old memory, of course I would first want to choose something happy and meaningful. Besides, I would still want to pick small amount of sadness memory. If my memory is full of happiness, I think I would feel really incomplete. Nobody can have a completely happy life, and absolutely no sadness, which is already an odd life. Therefore, I would like to choose a big percentage of happiness, positives and meaningfulness.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

Before I do the meditation, I will go to travel wherever I want to go and I think it will calm me down before I start my recovery process. After that I will definitely go and visit the places that I had been visited all the time. I think the first place I want to go to trigger my brain to recall all those memories I had is my high school. I had spent 5 years in the school and high school has been always a memorable place in my heart and it really means a lot to me. I will try to approach to the teachers who had taught me before and try to have a really nice conversation with them in order to find out more about myself. I think I will turn to my family next although I may not recognize them at all. I will ask my parents and siblings to write me a book that describes my childhood and I will read it every time before I go to sleep. I hope after reading some of the interesting event that happened to me, I can remember some of the facts through my dream. I do hope I can perform lucid dreaming too so I can trace back the memories as soon as possible in a way. Besides, I would try to figure out who used to be my best friends and they are more likely to help me to get back those memories because I know it’s normal to spend more time with our best friends than our families during our adolescence.

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 would feel upset and depressed all the time because I know recalling things had never been easy. I might be an introvert and try to move against people or maybe move away from people. I would hide my feelings too because I might feel embarrassed when I can’t remember certain facts that are really important in my life. Perhaps I would find the reconstruction process to be too toilsome and started to give up in a way. I definitely need someone who really understand me to guide and me all the time when I were almost wanted to give up something.

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, , etc. Please elaborate and explain some your decision making process.

Maybe it sounds a little bit bizarre, I would want to retain all of the memories that I used to have. Happy memories, sad memories, negative, painful, happy, angry, frightened and etc are equally important to me. If I only remembered the best part of them, I would live in a false state for the rest of my life. Life never gets perfect and I believe those little imperfections in our lives indeed make our lives more interesting. Don’t you think so? For those negative memories, I would try not to think of them that often but they should not be eliminated because they are still experience for me and I think they are useful in shaping a better me.

After losing my memory and having the opportunity to recover, i would most likely start by looking at pictures and trusting close family and friends to take me to places i used to go frequently. I would also attempt to walk around and try to recall past memories. i would probably not trust anyone and feel desperate to remember anything from the past. i would be afraid thinking that maybe i wont ever recover all my memories from my past. if i were able to pick and choose the memories i wanted to remember i would probably choose the memorable ones and the ones that taught me a lesson. i would want to remember all the mistakes i made before i had the accident because it would help me become a better person than i was before the accident. i would also want to remember the memorable ones because i believe that happy memories are like the cherry on top of a sundae; they help make your life sweeter. =)

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?

If I suffered from retrograde amnesia, I would begin the process of recovering my memory by going to my family. The reason I would start with family is because your family is the people that genuinely know who you are, the people that honestly tell you your accomplishments and mistakes and the ones that know all your history. Through them, you can learn who you use to be as a person. Because family is so close-knit and interpersonal, you probably inadvertently have some of the same habits and behaviors. Having that said, by simply observing them, you can get a grasp of both your personality as well as those of your family. Furthermore, like mentioned previously, family knows almost everything about you- including your goals, aspirations and past failures. With that, you can learn about your past, know who you are at the present state, and what your goals and lifelong dreams are before you suffered from retrograde amnesia.

The other people I would turn to are my friends. I would go to friends because besides family, friends are the ones that also know you the best. They can remind you of the good and bad memories you shared, the funny and one-in-a-lifetime experiences you had, and the secrets shared that your family does not know about. With these two sources, you should have an almost complete knowledge of who you truly were and are as an individual.

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.

First and foremost, I would be confused, overwhelmed, depressed and just simply frustrated. Because retrograde amnesia makes you forget all the memories before the brain injury, I will have no recollection of anyone or anything. With that said, I will constantly be questioning who these people are, why they keep on insisting they know me and why they keep on mentioning the memories or experiences we shared. On one hand, I would be frustrated because I can’t remember any of those memories. On the other hand, I would feel guilty that I do not remember any of those memories that my friends and family value so much. However, as new memories are made and past stories are shared, I am sure that I will feel comfort and reassurance that my friends are family are truly genuine in the stories that share. At that point, when I make new memories, I will then be able to feel comfort and be hopeful once again.

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.

If I were able to pick and choose the memories I wanted to recover from my life, I would keep most of them. While most people would want to block away the bad memories, I feel as though some bad memories are necessary to make one stronger. Whether it is losing a good friend or not getting a particular grade, you learn from those mistakes about how to move on and how to do better the next time around. From those bad experiences, you grow and mature as an individual. On the contrary however, happiness and joyous memories need to be kept too so those memories can be repeated and treasured as time goes on. All in all, I would mostly keep all of my memories— the positive, negative, happy and angry moments. As mentioned before, I would like to keep most of my memories. The part of my memory I would not like to keep however is the painful memories whether it is the time you saw a loved one passed or the painful memories associated with losing a best friend. That feeling of anguish and resentment really hurts physically and mentally both in the past and present. If I were able to choose the memories I wanted to recover, I would choose both the bad and the good but exclude the pain associated with the bad memories.

For this reflection,
imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you
to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss
of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this
accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up
until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication
has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to
guide the recovery process.

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?

The first step I would
take is, go to those places that I used to frequent most of the time. (It’s
clear that my memory is blank, but I know someone would tell me you loved to go
to that specific place) Maybe something special happened there. We know that
emotional memories are easier to recall. So, chances are that I can remember
something. Navigate thought my school work, photos, my personal computer, talk
to close friends, and most importantly my family.

It might sound funny
but social network can be a powerful tool in finding out more about myself. There
are hundreds of people who post every single day, every single thing that they do,
think, or want to do in the future. If I have access to it, I can go on and read
everything that I have done, said, or posted. Interact with friends I used to
talk to, those to whom I used to tell the good and bad things that I was going
through- Because some of us may have good friends who moved away or new good
friends around the world. So, in order to get in touch with them social network
makes it possible. They can tell me things that I want to know, something that
I can’t recall, or pictures that I have shared with them, comments I’ve made,
messages that we’ve exchanged. They can really tell a lot about myself, my
personality, the way I used to behave, think, and act.

If it would ever were
to happen to me, I think a good start would be go to that place where the
accident happened. If I want to recover my memory, maybe the place that made me
lost it can also help me gain some memory because remember, that specific place
is now part of my “bad” memories. It’s part of my life. Maybe you can make a
chronological timeline and say…. before the accident I was doing this and that,
I was going to that place, I was going to do this and that,  maybe you were thinking about something… so
on and so forth. Another good place to search is you own house.

Obviously you can’t
really remember who you are, but your family is there for you, true friends
will never walk away. They will stay with you throughout the process of
recovery.

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 can’t image the
journey I would have to go through. My first reaction I think would be complete
loss, meaning feeling in complete darkness. More than confused I’m going to be
in panic, trying to find answers. I know some people may feel reluctant about
this. But giving up is not a good way to get your life back in track. Feeling
useless is completely normal. You don’t know what you were good at, things you
used to do, things you hated to do, etc. But finding out how amazing you were
back then, Is I think a good motivation to overcome this pitfall in life.

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.

Throughout my life span
I have had good and bad memories. Obviously that’s not only true for myself,
but for everybody. But in in this case I believe I would not only like to retain
good memories, one of the reasons is because I strongly believe that bad
memories help you shape the future, as well as, your behavior. I am now more
aware of what’s going to happen if I go through that experience again, I am now
more likely to overcome any situation in my life because I already know what it
feels like to be in that particular situation. So, this helps me be stronger
and more confident than if I had never felt that experience of negativity in my
life. I would like to recover and retain all my memories because that is what
describes the real ME. That’s who I am, and who I want to be for the rest of my
life.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

If I lost all my memories, I would feel frustrated and I would try to recover my memories. In order to recover my memories, I will take medication to calm me down and then I will call my family who knows me best. With my family, I will try to think back to my past days. If I didn’t recall my lost memory easily, I would use hypnotic therapy which enable me to approch memories exist only on my subconscious level.

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.

Loss of memories will make me frustrated and angry. Even though people around me may cheer me up and help to recover my lost memory; however, as time goes by, I may cry in despair of getting back the lost memory. Sometimes, I may have hope I can recover all my memory when I recall a few memories. I don’t know and I cannot describe the emotional journey that I have never experienced, but it is pretty obvious that giving up all memories is hard.

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.

If I were pick and choose memories I wanted to recover, I would say I will take all. Any memories, even though it is negative one, are my life and history. The positive memories that I’ve experienced will make me happy, but some negative memories make me mature a lot spiritually over my life. Therefore, I cannot give up any memories in my life.

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?

If I were to experience retrograde amnesia, I would commence the process of recovering my memory by thinking optimistically that I might have a chance of regaining some of my memory back. Before anything, I would listen to the doctor and follow his instructions by taking the medication he prescribes for me. Most importantly, I would want my family to be there for me because I spent my whole life with them. With my friends and family there to support me, I’ll probably feel ten times more confident because these are the people that mean a lot to me.  Even now, I always look at my photos to recall a memory from my past experiences. I enjoy looking at pictures as they depict a vivid memory of a certain past experience. Also, I would watch my videos from my childhood and ask my friends and family to take me to the places I frequently went to before this tragic incident occurred.

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 can only imagine what an emotional journey I would be going through as I try to reconstruct my life without being able to recall my cherished memories from the past. Even if people tell me about a certain memory, I’m sure I won’t believe them because it’s something I won’t be able to remember. Knowing how I react to certain situations even today, I’ know that I will be very frustrated at the smallest things. Since I won’t have any memories after the incident, there’s going to be a lot of things that I will have to relearn which will be very tiring both emotionally and physically. At times, I’m sure I’ll have a mental breakdown and question why this memory loss happened to me instead of someone else. It’ll probably be a long emotional journey but with my friends and family around, I’m sure I can somehow accept the fact that I might have to reconstruct my life by relearning everything around me.

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.

A lot of people might just want the happy memories from the past but I definitely think that picking out some of the negative memories can help you learn from your past mistakes. I would want to choose the happy and negative experiences from my life. Through negative experiences, one can learn that hardships can be overcome and can learn to not make the same mistake ever again.

1. I would begin the process of recovering my memory by checking my laptop. Everything about my past memory is saved in it, like pictures, videos,and diaries. I also would go back to the places were I took the pictures and mentioned in my diaries. First, I would look over all of the pictures and find out who are those people that related to me. Then I would turn to my families and friends. I would go to some memorable places with them and talk with them about my past.

2. This must be the most complicated feeling that I’ve ever had. I would feel so sad and helpess at the first time that i found out i forget everything that happened to me. But i am appreciated to be luckily enough to have a second chance to reconstruct my life.

3. If I have a chance to choose what types of memories that I lie to retain, that surely would be all the happy times that I spent with my families and friends. Because family and friends are in the first place of my life. Just like we learned in ch11,people have need to belong. Another type of memory that I decide to edit is the mistakes that I made in the past. I do not want to be a perfect person, and I just hope the mistakes that I made did not hurt anybody or scwered up anything. About those unhappy memories, I would not do anything purposely to recover them or forget them totally.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

I would begin by understanding what is going on and try to remain calm about what my brain is going through. I would definitely turn to my parents and sister only, and I will proceed according to my doctor’s recommendations.

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.

If one day i woke up with retrograde amnesia, I would be so scared, might not trust people close to me and feeling anxious, might blame myself or others around me and nervousness.

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.

The types of memories I like to choose are my happy elementary and junior high school days. for example, i remember when I first learned how to write script in elementary. When i was in junior high school, i remember the time i first moved out of my childhood house to a new bigger house. I really liked the feeling of moving to a new house.
A memory i like to take out and edit, is when i had a fight with a good friend and ended up in the principle’s office. If i can turn back time, it would of not occur. But i learned my mistake.

1. Well, the first thing I would do is spend time with the people that I know was apart of my life. They can be my parents, relatives, and friends. This will also be a good time to review my Facebook.
2. Recovering memory will be a long and frustrating process. How will you know if someone is lying to you or not? It will probably get to the point where I’ll either disregard everything or accept everything. The important thing would be to get exposed to as many familiar things possible, this can fortunately cause spontaneous recovery.
3. I would try to recover most of my memory, whether if it is negative or positive. The reason is because I like myself. I like who I have become. Of-course, I am not perfect, and far from it but I like the feeling of accomplishment. I like to challenge myself. We are who we are because of our memories.

I would like to turn to my friends and family for help to recover my memory. I would ask them to bring me to people and places that I used to go to. hopefully that’d jog my memory a bit. I don’t think I would like to return to the scene of the accident because that would only be a bad memory for me that I probably wouldn’t need.

I think I would probably feel hopeless and useless while trying to get my memories back. But I may also feel like I’m going back in time, reliving all the moments that I lost could be a fun thing as well. I truly wouldn’t know how it would feel like because I’ve never or never known anyone that had to go through this process.

If I had the choice of which memories to get back, I wouldn’t leave any out because I  believe our memories make up who we are. Whether good or bad memories they reflect the way we act.

After getting hit in the head by a hockey puck during a Ranger’s game, the doctor in the ER told me that I have retrograde amnesia. As I begin my process of recovering my memory I turn to my best friend, Michael, because he knows the most about me and I trust him to tell/show me any experience that I would want to remember.
I would assume that we would proceed by looking at pictures of my childhood (from birth to 10 years of age), there aren’t pictures that I have that aren’t cute, so that would start to refresh my mind. We would then go to my elementary school because that is where I made my oldest friends. Next would be the playground because that’s where I was a normal kid who just ran around and played tag. And lastly would be my first two apartments in Queens and my brother’s first two apartments, so I could remember my experiences with my brothers and my older brother’s kids. The places I would avoid would be where I went on vacation, Toronto, Massachusetts, and Virginia, because I wasn’t myself during them and there were parts that I wish were different. I would assume that while I go through this process, I’m going to be open minded and look forward to continue on through the path that I’m on now.
I don’t expect to go through an emotional journey because the emotional memories are the ones I’ll try to avoid, like my old crushes and when I learned that marriages do not always lead to happiness. The one good thing that comes from losing your memory is that you stop constantly thinking about the real emotional experiences in one’s life.
In all, the memories that I would choose to reminisce are the happy ones, where I win awards, have fun, meet good people, and prove people wrong when they don’t believe in me. At the same time, I’m one of those people that wouldn’t mind forgetting embarrassing moments and mistakes, even if I could learn from them, because you could learn by not making them too. Lastly, I would especially try to avoid the memories of me getting angry, because I get unreasonable and do things that I regret.

P.S. Idea for the title of this post came from “Jackie Chan’s Who am I?” Its a movie about a former villain who loses all his memory and beats the bad guys.

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?

In order to recover my memory after I experienced retrograde amnesia, I would begin the process by watching the picture in my albums or radios I made before, visiting the place which I often went before and trying to remember people who around me. Maybe the familiar memory chips would come into my mind. The most importance of this process is that I would turn to my family and friends. They are very significant for me. They are the people who know me very well. I would ask them everything about me and try to recover them. I also would ask them bring me to the place which the stories happened. I think it would be very helpful for recovering my memory. In addition, I would counsel psychologist for supporting my mentation.

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.

When I wake up, I don’t know who I am and my brain would be blank. At that moment, I would feel helpless, frighten, alone and upset. My whole world changed. Everything and everybody are strange for me. I don’t know who my family is, who my friends are, where my home is and so on. When my family and my friends introduce themselves and tell me the stories about me. I would be confuse and curious. Sometimes I would doubt that it is me. When they say that I did some wrong things in the past, maybe I would feel regret and I can’t believe what I did. When they give me positive opinions about my past, I would feel happy. Gradually, I absorb the stories they send to me. Although there are still no memories in my mind, I would be relax and believe them. I have the confidence that I would find back myself.

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.

If I were able to pick and choose the memories I wanted to recover from my life, I would pick all memories I had. Whatever they were positive, negative, painful, happy, angry or frightened. They were the parts of my life. Each part was my precious experience. The good memories would make me happy and close to the people they were in. The bad memories would give me a chance to fix them and absorb the experience from them. If I hurt somebody before, it would be the chance to apologize and recover our relationship. Maybe this experience was the god wanted to give a new begin and let me get the better future.

I would begin my process of recovering my memory by turning to the people who seem to be very concerned about me, which would be my parents and close friends. I would proceed by first looking at my electronic devices reading messages, notes anything I have written down. Also I would look at pictures and when I consistently see the same people over again, I can get an idea on their contributions and significance towards my existence. As I embark on this journey I know that I face confusion, anxiety,  sadness because I will have too much dependence on external ideas and comments on who I was as a person.  The memories that I would like to keep are the ones related to childhood and my teenage years. I want to be able to keep the positive happy and joyful memories in my memory. I would like to edit out the frightened and negative memories out of my experience as they would pose as externalities that would try to prevent me from doing something. If I get another chance to do something I wouldn’t have to hold regrets of not doing it. Sometimes fear prevents us from taking initiatives. The feeling of should have, could have, or would have are something I don’t want to keep within me. I want to be abke to achieve my full potential as a person so by removing these externalities I think I would have a better chance in doing so.

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?

–  If I were unexpectedly struck by a falling object and experienced retrograde amnesia at first I would turn up-to my parents but I guess my diary will be my best friend that time.

Since age 10 I have the habit of writing in my diary every night about the incidents that I face the whole day, let it be important or not. There also I have attached pictures of all the important people that came into my life, all the important events that occurred in my life.

I will also try to meet up with my friends and neighbors every day to gain some knowledge about my past life.

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 will be like a new- born baby for whom everything has just started

I believe it will be very difficult and pressurizing for me to remember every single moments that happened in my life. All those dates, all those days,  that were very important for me for many years will be unimportant to me just in one second. What can be more painful than that?

.

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.

– Definitely I would want to retain my unhappy and painful memories because these are the memories would actually remind me my mistakes, my weakness and the way I overcame those moments.

Of course, I will like also to recall my happy, joyful memories too as they will make me more enthusiastic and give me the courage to do something but my priority will be my bad memories!

Wow what an interesting prompt. Knowing someone like me, this would probably be extremely painful. Meeting so many interesting people on debate competitions, vacations, school and even family and friends. Where do I begin?

1. I would begin the process of recovering by turning to my parents and brothers, to see the type of life I lived. I would request to see pictures, Facebook posts, awards, and everything to do with my life. I would also take my computer to Apple to unlock it so I could see the writing that I’ve done, and things I’ve read. I would want to know peoples outward feelings towards me as the first step.

2. The emotional journey I could imagine would be ridiculous. I mean supposing I had lost my memory, I would not realize that the family that is telling me about my life is the family I grew up with. I can imagine many tears at people telling me things that I should remember, such as the trip to Disney or the many car rides to Maryland. But I could also imagine much laughter at the mischievous things I had supposedly done.

3. Picking and choosing memories to me would seem wrong. I would want the same memories, so that when I actually got my memory back everything would be in place, and there would be no loose ends. All the pain, and suffering but also the laughs and triumphs have made me me. How could I not be a different person without having each and every experience. It would feel weird. I suppose if I was forced to I would take out the time I tripped and made my 6th grade team lose Field day. But then again my friends still bring it up to this day, so I would be missing a big part of me.

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?

To begin, I would start with my family. The only group of people who would know who I truly am, how I act, and what I do will always start with the people I’ve been with my entire life. I would go to my parents to find out about my past, what I’m doing in the present, and what I aspire to be in the future. I would look up to my brother and my sister to find out how I acted and learn about everything I’ve ever done with my family. After I learn about who I am again, I would go to my significant other for help. She would take me to places we’ve gone and help me relive those moments we shared together, such as a walk in the park, a picnic, or even traveling across the United States. Being able to go through the same process may even allow my brain to recollect past memories. Then of course, I would play with the Internet. Every bit of information is on the Internet these days and the only way to learn about the current world is to use technology.

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.

Having retrograde amnesia, I would be dazed, confused, and depressed. Not knowing who people are, where I live or who I am can make anyone break down. I would take my time to absorb what had happened and return to my family for help. I would dedicate my time to figuring out everything, even if it meant that I wouldn’t like it now. Having the patience and confidence to rebuild my own physical and emotional state would very demanding, so I would seek out more help from my closest friends. Having guidance from my significant other and my closest friends will help me understand what kind of person I was. Hopefully while I’m going through this journey I don’t give up. I have a very strong tendency to push through boundaries and work harder. Even at times, I’m sure I would doubt my existence in other peoples’ lives. I would feel guilty of forcing others to help me when they have other things going on in their lives. I would try to make others quit while I try to help myself, but knowing my family and my friends they would never leave me behind. The key to happiness is being able to achieve self-actualization. The only people who can help you get there are your friends and family.

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.

Unlike many others who would want to edit out memories, whether they were during embarrassing situations or even painful events, I would not give up anything. Of course, no one enjoys negative moments in life, but what I get out of my past memories are experience. I have learned to accept experiences whenever they happen because they teach you something new and help you grow as an individual. No matter how embarrassing or scary they might be, it gives you the opportunity to learn from them or laugh about them at the dinner table in the future. Other categories that many would question about would be traumatic events. It is true that no one wants to experience something that will haunt him or her, but I feel that through a series of dedicated trials (such as asking for advice or meditating), anyone can get through them. Everyone has the ability to overcome fear.

Moments in life that I would like to keep forever would be celebrations and major events in my family’s, friends’, and my life. Things such as birthday parties and vacations are some memorable events that I’d like to keep. I’d also like to retain my graduation from high school (and hopefully my graduation from college!) and the day I adopted my first dog because as a younger adolescent, I was like a thousand fireworks going off when it happened. Even moments in life where I stumbled and made a fool of myself are worth a million. I feel that there are more memories that I’d like to keep then lose, not that I have had more happier memories then sad ones. Being able to be content and satisfied with who I am as an individual is what makes the decision making process of choosing my memories so important.

Basic story:

If I were unexpectedly struck by a falling object and it caused me to experience retrograde amnesia. I forgot all my experience before the brain injury.  This accident has caused me to forget all my explicit memories from childhood up until I were struck by the falling object.

However, I could maintained how’s the medication going on.

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?

Base on the basic story, I lost my explicit memory which including semantic memory and episodic memory. The semantic memory are about the facts and general knowledge, such as what we learn in school. Depend on the general knowledge, I will try to find the text book in school and read more books in library. Specially reread my note books. I believer it will be helpful, because I am accustomed to writing down my own definition of which I learn in the class.

In addition, episodic memory is another problem I have to handle. Episodic memories are more personal than semantic memories, it is about the experience I had. At first, I will try to review my journal, because it record most of my personal stories and feeling. Secondly, I will try to find my family and friends for all my photos, because the picture may help me to recover some of my memories. I will talk with my family and friends to try to find the my shadow in their memories with me. This will help me to understand my own personality and my interpersonal relationship.

In the end, if I still can’t remember anything before my injure accident, I will go to ask help from hypnosis. Hypnosis may help me to find my memory back.

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.

At the beginning, I believe I will suffer from can’t recover anything. I will be depressive and be angry with myself. Moreover, I will feel hopeless because I don’t know everyone and can’t ask help from them. Later, I will keep myself alone and run away from the people. This is what Karen Horney explain one of the defense against anxiety method, moving away from others.

However, base on the helping with family and the hard working of myself, I may recover a little bit of my loss memory. Then I will build a little bit confidence to myself, believe I could be recover all my memory on one day in the future. Keeping the positive feeling is the major emotion status at this time. Base on this, I will continue to try my best to find my memory back.

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.

If I could pick and choose the memories I wanted to recover from my life, I hope to get my whole memory back including positive and negative. I believe that a completed life should holding the happy and sad memory, because no matter which you lost , this is not a rich experience and you will feel nothing to the other feeling. For example, you will not feel happy if you have never know what is suffering. Then you will not care any moment when you are holding the happy. That is the same to the say memory. Without the negative memory, you will not know how dear and sweat the happy one is. Therefore, I will not give up any of my memory no matter how it is. I want a completed and rich life.

I would begin the process of recovering my memory in a quiet, relaxing room, thinking independently with those childhood pictures. I would think of my parent and friends. I started searching the places such as kinder garden, elementary school, my previous home and the park I often went. I linked those faces with these places, trying to find out some events and memory chips.

When I was attempting to reconstruct my life, I felt exciting but scare. When I thought of my parents’ smiling faces, I was happy. But suddenly, I was alone in the park. All people were away of me. I felt extremely freaking. However, the memories just like a not successive movie that struck me time to time. I was in an uncertain space and handle everything cautiously.

If I was able to pick and choose the memories I wanted to recover from my life. I would choose those happy memories. I would delete those memories that make me afraid. As I mention before, those negative memories made me afraid. So there’s no reason to keep that in mind. Besides, I also wanted to forget those shameful experiences because I couldn’t help to think it again and again which made me painful.

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?

First, I would have to find out who I am from a 100% trustable  source. Then, I have to get hold of my friends and family if I lost communication with them when the accident happened. I will ask everyone of them about myself and look for any evidence of my past life, such as diary, official records of me and maybe even my social media profiles.

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 think I will be very suspicious about everything. I will probably not trust any people for awhile. I will probably even refuse any body from helping me. I will also feel very empty and helpless.

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.

At first, I will probably choose to only recover my memories that are pleasant to know. As I mentioned before, I will feel very empty and helpless. I really need something good to support my momentum during the process. After awhile, I will be very curious about the memories that are not very pleasant as well. I will try to recover those memories later in my recovering process.  Because I want to know everything about myself, otherwise I will not truly recover from who I am. I am afraid of a huge personality change if I don’t recover most of my memories.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

If I want to know about myself before I experienced retrograde amnesia, I will first ask my doctor to find my home, so that I can begin from my family members in my journey of recoverying lost explicit memory. Aside from memories that I can recover from my family, they can help me find some of my friends and my school. From the registral’s office, I can find my previous professors and inquire them about my past; professors might also be helpful finding several of my friends. After recoverying memories from the people I know,  I could slowly getting most of my memories back.

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 think that when I first regain consciousness, I will feel empty and afraid. It will feel like woke up from your dream to find yourself in a strange place with strangers who tells you about your past, which you don’t have any slightest clue about. This could freak me out. After a while, I might be ajusted to that situation and slowly shift focus to recover my memories, and the initial shock may go away soon.

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 think all memories are imortant. Some people think that only good memories are important, but I think bad memories are also important. I can learn from the bad memories better than good ones most of the times. So, I dont want to remove/retain any of my memories, or edit them. The distorted memories will cause me to believe in something rediculous.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?
-I would begin the process of recovering my memory by asking my parents, family, relatives, and friends the places I visit the most before having the injury. Hoping to start from the places that I should familiar to. Looking at pictures and videos should help too since episodic memories includes events that happen ealier in my life. As I have said, I would turn to my family, friends, and relatives because they know about my past and they can tell me stories of my past. I would also start to search objects around me to see whether I can think of something that happens to me in the past.

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 think my emotion will be very angry and complicated since it is difficult for a person to live without his or her memory. Also, I’ll think that I’m very stupid because I can’t memorize the things that I learned in school too. Without knowing what had happened and the things that I previously learned, I can’t imagine how my rest of the life will be. Even if I accepted to treat by hypnosis, there will still be a chance of failure.

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.
– For me, I would choose to remember everything that happened and learned earlier in my life. I think most people will choose to forget the unhappy memories and keep the delightful memories to themselves. However, if I choose only to remember the happy ones, then my life will not be awesome. I think that every person’s life should be full of different kinds of memories, so that when we get older, we can get a taste of what had happened to ourselves earlier in life. Also, most human beings make mistakes, and if they choose to forget what kind of mistakes they make, they’ll probably repeat those mistakes again. Without previously memories, I will not be the person I am today.

Just recently, I was diagnosed with retrograde amnesia after being struck by a falling object. This meant that I would forget all my childhood memories growing up and would only be able to create new memories from when I was struck by the object. Luckily, a medication has been developed to aid me in the recovery process, but it’s up to me to complete the process.

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?

To begin the process of recovering my memory, I would first take the medication that was provided to aid me in my recovery process. Then, I would turn to the people who stood by me when I woke up. They call themselves my “family”. From there, I would go to the house where the family came from to search for any memories that may have been stored there. Hopefully, there would be pictures, videos and any written letters or diaries that I may have had there before my injury. After viewing all of these items, I would turn to “mother” and begin questioning her about my childhood and the items that I have seen. The next step in the process would be to try and remember my friends, the friends that I spent days with having fun. The friends that stood by my bed in the hospital after I was struck by the falling object. Then perhaps, I will slowly begin to remember the life that I had before.

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.

Knowing myself, I know I would be extremely frustrated that I do not remember any of the people that surround me, the environment that surrounds me as well as life itself. It’ll be hard on me mainly because it’s almost as if I have been dropped onto earth with no knowledge of anything and anyone. When I go back to my neighborhood, everyone will be asking me if I’m all right, how I’m handling myself. Meanwhile, I don’t know any of these people! It’s frustrating when a lot of people know you and you don’t even know whom they are or what they are talking about. Feelings of confusion, frustration, sadness and anger would all arise.

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.

If I were able to pick and choose the memories that I wanted to recover from my life, I would undoubtedly try to recover each and every memory whether it was positive, negative, painful, happy, etc. Each and every memory that I had throughout my life is worth remembering. In addition, each and every memory makes up the person that I was. Memories are not something you can just pick out and choose. Of course I would enjoy the positive and happy memories that I have had throughout my life. They make me feel good. However, those painful and angry memories that I’ve had, they are worth remembering because like I said before, every memory makes up the person that I am.

For this reflection, imagine that you were unexpectedly struck by a falling object, which caused you to experience retrograde amnesia. As we learned, retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories which occurred before the brain injury. In this case, imagine this accident has caused you to forget all your explicit memories from childhood up until you were struck by the falling object.

Luckily, a medication has been developed to help you recover your memories, but it’s up to you to guide the recovery process.

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?

To begin the process of recovering all of the memories lost from before the accident, I would probably start by looking at all of the picture albums dedicated to me, my friends, and my family, in chronological order. I would also try to look at pictures of important events in world history that occurred throughout my life to that point. After all, we take pictures to preserve memories, so why not use them to actually fill the giant memory gap. Then, I would try to talk to friends and family to try to recount past events. I would listen to stories of my upbringing and their histories as well. Basically, I think that I would need to expose myself to as many people who have had an impact on my life prior to the accident as possible. This would probably help me piece together the past most effectively. Lastly, I think that visiting the places that I would normally visit would be crucial as well.

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 suppose that the journey of recollecting one’s memories after retrograde amnesia caused by an accident is absolutely devastating. Once you understand that your mind is a blank slate, and that all these years of precious experience are gone, a depressive mood would probably set in. Of course, as I would be looking through all the pictures and talking to family, friends, and acquaintances, I think that all of the situations would be very emotionally charged. There would probably be tears of joy, as well as tears of sadness. There would be laughter at the funnier moments in life as well. All in all though, it seems as if the journey to recount everything would be extremely daunting. How does one go back to living a normal life? You cannot recount absolutely everything, like restoring a backed up hard drive. I think that this depressive feeling of knowing that life will never be the same, and that years of memories were wasted, will be the dominant feeling when living with retrograde amnesia.

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.

Thinking about what kind of experiences make me the person I am today, I realize that picking only the positive and happy experiences to recover from my life would not be the right way to go about this. After all, there is a reason that idioms such as, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, exist. Negative times in my life have certainly helped shape the person that I am today, and the positive played a part as well. Considering that in 21 years of life, I have retained more memories than I can obviously think of at any given moment, I would like to recover all of them. In the course of life, I believe that everything that happens to us forms us into the individuals we are today. Therefore, editing would be unnecessary.

1) How would I recover my memories?

I would interrogate my parents, relatives, and friends. Of course, I would need to figure out who are my friends first but that’s another story. I scan for any online presence of myself (facebook).

2) My emotional journey

It would be a frustrating to regain my memories for many reasons. The first would be finding out whether or not someone is lying to me or not. I would also have to decipher the previous relationship I held people I talk to; are they close friends, relatives, etc?

3) Recoverable Memories

I would recover as many memories as possible, both positive and negative. Without negative experiences, I would have a skewed view of the world. Without positive experiences, I would fall into a depressed state. The memories that I would choose over all else would be those between me and the ones I am closest with (family and extremely close people).

First off, I would start with talking to my doctor. He will probably be the first person I see when I wake up from a coma brought on my this brain injury, and will be able to inform me of who I am and contact my parents. I would talk to my family since they know me the best, but especially talk in depth with my sister. It would probably be smart to check my laptop first to get a sense of who I am. The desktop pictures I have, my Internet history, and my thought processes (in form of homework and documents) would give me a good sense of who I was before this injury. Then, I would find out who my close friends are and talk to them. They know a side of me that isn’t apparent when I’m with family.

I would definitely be frustrated. There are so many things around me that would be a reflection of who I was as a person, but I wouldn’t be able to remember any of that. I’m sure there would be people around to help me through this process, but that would make me even angrier because they know more about me than I would about myself at that time. I would be bound to run into something that was happy in my past and that would lift my spirits. But with happy times come bad times too. This whole process would be such an emotional roller coaster.

Emotion is an important part of daily life and it wouldn’t feel right if I took out all the “negative” memories I had. A person can’t be happy their whole life; we need to feel pain and sadness once in a while. Happy memories would definitely be more plentiful if I were to choose which memories to keep but if I had to choose some negative memories, I would choose the ones that hurt the most. It’s best to experience these emotions at their highest and know the full extent of its power instead of experiencing these feelings in tiny doses. High school memories for sure will be picked because I learned so much about life in those years. It’s taught me to be hardworking, it’s taught me how to handle relationships (and the good and the bad that comes along), and it’s taught me how to be independent.

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?

First thing first, I would look through my old photo album since I can hardly trust people who I can’t seem to remember. Then I would ask about myself from the people who been there for me since I got hit. I would turn to my family first and then the people I talk to the most. Since we have internet nowadays, I can turn to my Facebook page. I might had written my passwords somewhere around my room. I would just look through my old comments/pictures/messages. I will also try to do things that my family or friends told me that I have a habit of and see if I can remember anything.

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.

At first, I would feel scared, confused, and lost. Since I wouldn’t know who to trust and what to do. I will try my hardest to remember what happened before the incident. I will trust the people who will be always there for me. I will try to wander around or do things that I used to do. I would most likely become a naive person since I don’t know anything about my past.

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 will most likely want to remember all my past memories. Cause I would love to know what kind of person am I. The only memories that I might decide to edit out is memories that always causes pain to me. I would remember positive/happy/exciting moments because I don’t want to be a stressed out person. I might keep some negative memories like who to trust or who not to trust.

If I had amnesia I would hope my friends help by bringing me to places I’ve been to before;helping me relive the past. Personally I would write. Writing stimulates creativity and allows the mind to run free. If were to lose my memories I would want my mind to flow and perhaps in the mist of searching my creativity my memories cam be unlocked. Both these activities can stimulate the mind and also trigger emotions, which are closely related to memories.

During this time, I think I would rely on my closest friends (which I only have a few).  These people know my ups and downs and care able to endure with me and help me rediscover my past. I know that if I didn’t remember them, I would have trouble trusting them, but also be able to go through emotional turns which may help me with my memory.  I can only imagine the frustration i would have from not remembering the past.

But if I had a choice to keep or lose some memories I wouldn’t want to remember anything. Going about everyday without pre notions of who you are or who people perceived you as is like a new beginning; it’s like being able to look at the world and society from an outside view without all the things I was taught to accept or taught to believe. Everything I see today will probably look different.

1. In order to begin my process of recovering my memory, first I would have to consider the questions of who am I now and would learning about my past change the way I am. The most important aspect of memories is that it shapes a person’s personality. However, if I am already the person, I was before, would remembering about my past make a huge difference?

Secondly, I would turn to the people that claim to be my family and friends in order to answer those questions. I would turn to them in hopes of finding about their past opinions of me. This would provide a good opportunity for those close to me to open up and truthfully inform me of my likes and dislikes (accepting their opinions is a different story). Also, if there is anyone in the world that could walk you through your past, it can only be the people that walked with you in your past.

Other than seeking answers from friends and family, I would try to search for my own answers through my personal belongings such as my clothes, my room, any journals or notes, my computer, the music I listen to, etc. These small materialistic things in my life provide an understanding of what type of person I was and what I enjoyed. These are the type of answer that wouldn’t be found through asking others but through an exploration of my own.

2. I envision being scared, alone and frightened by what is unknown to me. Being in a world and lost about your past is quite a scary experience. These people who claim to be my family and closest friends are nothing but strangers to me. If I were truly ignorant of my past, then I would probably be ignorant of what type of relationship I had with these people. I wouldn’t know whether to trust them or not and whether they can actually help me. What if the people that claim to be my friends were actually people I despised deep down inside? However, in attempt to reconstruct my life, I would have to rely on these people. I wouldn’t know whether or not to trust them in helping me through the process. The things they tell me and the emotional support they attempt to provide wouldn’t have a deep effect on me if they didn’t gain my trust.

3. I believe that every part of my memory, whether good or bad, shapes the person I am today. Yes, I believe that many people have memories they want to forget. However, within each memory comes an important lesson to be learned. Even if the memory was terrible and was repressed for a long time, I would want to gain knowledge of these memories for the sake of experiencing what I have experienced again. In theory, I would most probably want to remember the happiest moments of my life such as graduation, prom, birthdays etc. I would also probably not want to remember any memory that ruined my childhood or any painful memories such as a death of someone close to me, witnessing something terrifying as a childhood or painful events that occurred between someone I am now close with. However, all of these memories are part of the learning experience in life. Without these memories, I wouldn’t be where I am now and I wouldn’t have learned the lesson I learned. I believe by recovering all the memories that I have would provide closure in understanding who I am.

Well, first of all, I will turn to the paramedics to check me if I am ok. Probably they will find out immediately that I have retrograde amnesia, because I won’t be able to give an answer to a simple question like where do you live or what my parents’ names and phone numbers are.  I’m sure that they will recommend that I should see a psychologist and that I will have to make an appointment with a MRI scan to see what’s going on in my head.  Finding out what my name is and where do I live will be the easiest part. After all, it is all written on my driver’s license which I carry everywhere.  I will probably ask the doctors to help me get my memory back and is there a pill, a drink or some voodoo ritual that can do the trick. Also I will ask them to help me get home and to send someone with me so that they will be able to explain to my parents what have happened. After I get home and see my parents I will ask them  to tell me who am I and to show me some pictures or documents that can help me remember my past.  I figure that no one else can tell me who I am and what I did in the past better than my parents.

I don’t even want to think of what my emotions will be in this situation. I will be so confused. I’m pretty sure that I will be wandering why am I able to speak another language more fluently than the language that everyone speaks around me and what kind of languages are they.   I will probably be scared and believe everything that people tell me about who I am.  I don’t think that I will turn around if someone shouts my name because I won’t be able to catch that they are referring to me, so the cocktail party effect will not work for my situation. I really don’t know what else I can feel. I think I will be going through what I have gone, in my first childhood years, when I was learning about the world around me.  It’s horrifying not to know who you are and who you can trust.

If I have the choice of choosing which memories I want to recover and which ones I want to repress, I don’t think I will want to repress any of them. Memories are my personal experiences. I learn through them and if I don’t know what my bad side looks like, how can I then recognize what is good in me. Good and Bad memories form our decision making process in the future. Of course I want to remember all of my happy and fun memories, but by remembering my bad memories I will be able to make a difference. Hopefully I will try to change and to apologies to everyone I have hurt in the past. I will try to do what’s right and what I should have done. That’s why I think that all memories should be kept. They define us, they help us, they save us. Who knows, maybe, losing my memories can be interpreted as a new beginning and gaining my memories back as a chance to fix my past so that I will have a better future.

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?

After being diagnosed with retrograde amnesia, i didn’t know what to do. I cannot remember a thing about my past. I really don’t want to be stuck forever in the present and future. Being who i am had to do with what i was. I woke up from this condition to people i didn’t recognize at all. They were really happy to see me alive and that gets me excited. However, who are they? Were they related to me? I also woke up to see posters and “get-well soon” cards? They were lovely words by people that cared for me; again, who are they? and who am i?

My mission is to direct my first questions to the first people that surrounded my bed. It was my “family.” After making me aware of who she was, my mother is definitely reliable. My mother would be the first person i would look for answers.  She seemed to look most concerned about me; so i guess she would know a lot about what i was. From the “get well soon” cards i received, i would ask my family if they knew those people and how can i meet them? An important individual is definitely the doctor, i am sure he has some pretty good ways for me to try to understand this present of mine, and how i got to it and what information i can look for to explain my past. I want to relive my habits, my favorite foods and drinks, my favorite hangout places, my favorite books, artists, music, etc. I also wanted to see my old memories in photos or videos because it might give me an idea of what i used to be and whether i want to continue that way.

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.

Everyday i woke up to feel devastated. “Family and friends” would come to me day by day talking about the memories. I loved seeing their smile but the feeling inside me was overwhelming. It was so sad that i wasnt able to remember any of this fun. If i had a personal debt to someone for something nice they did for me, i cant pay them back because i dont remember them doing anything for me. Those surrounding people that i once had much in common with, no longer existed in my picture; i couldnt get their jokes, i couldnt remember the places we hanged out in, i couldnt remember the nicknames we called each other, i couldnt remember their birthdays OR MY OWN BIRTHDAY! I couldnt even remember why a birthday was such a big deal till they explained it and showed me all those past memories in video and photos. Why cant i remember anything?!

I feel empty and nothing to live for

I woke up to a present where I’ve lost everything i adore

They try to remind me, but i remained a closed door

Calling for my memories but they look at me and ignore

My desperate voice speaks, “mom, why cant i remember you anymore?”

Just take me away and throw me to a forever moving shore

I’d feel useless if i’m not saved by some cure

I guess, like they say, nothing comes easy, that’s for sure

Im going to probably live a life feeling insecure

But for now i have to move on and begin to live something new and pure

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 been going through so much for the past couple of years. I been using this amazing medication that has made a path to a brighter future. Trying to remember as much as i can and editing my life like an essay; cutting, pasting and deleting memories. After the amazing efforts by my friends and family, i was able to remember a lot. Sometimes i just remembered things by looking at objects, pictures, places, clothes, foods, drinks, people, etc. Memories like trips or vacations with family and friends, i wanted to forever remember and keep. Remembering the fun we had those times makes me feel like i relived a thousand years. Moreover, high school! My friends actually took me back to our old high school and gave me a tour to every teacher we had, every classroom we were in and all the fun memories we had in those places. THEY GAVE ME BACK MY MEMORIES! Instead of going to the official prom, we made our own; the fun we had there was priceless!

Not everything was all sweet in memory, dark memories came along as well. Those were the memories that i cut out and tried my best to just delete them. I never ever want to remember the death of all the loved ones i lost. I also remembered a little about the people that betrayed me in harsh ways, i stopped myself and didnt allow my memory to go any further to remembering those things. I didnt even want try to investigate it from my friends or family. For the most part, i remembered all the good things that happened to me and i am very grateful for what i have. A choice i made is to stop hunting for memories and move on; you dont live forever, you only live today.