i ' m t h e g u y w e a r i n g t h e h a t .
what is your earliest memory?
i'm a rec management major and one of my class assignments was to develop and lead an experience in teambuilding and initiative activities. our presentation date was approaching so, i scheduled a group meeting on campus. we initially planned to meet inside, but i decided to scratch that idea and meet under the setting sun. i arrived fifteen minutes early and took a seat at a picnic table. i spent the first few moments pushing the stress from my mind and a few deep breaths later, i was able to fully enjoy my time alone. it was the perfect opportunity to relax and reflect on the day. the green grass, the tall trees, and a few parents with their children kept my mind at ease as i waited for my group to arrive. a minute felt like an hour and this, coming from a serious go go go society, was a refreshing change from the norm.
i've become more aware of the pace of the world around me and i'm making a conscious effort to slow down.
i glanced around the area and spied a woman hiding in the bushes. initially, i was startled by her, but then i realized that she was a mother hiding from her 2 year old son. i scanned the area another time and saw the young man appear from behind a tree. he was running full throttle with an ear to ear smile on his face. his happiness and excitement spread across the air and hit me right in the chest.
it made me wonder, will this child remember this moment?
is there anything i can do to help him remember that feeling of pure happiness?
i was intrigued and decided to consider my own earliest memory. it was troubling to find that, after 25 years, my mind is already clouded with all sorts of mix matched details and experiences. in one early memory, i recall holding my baby brother after he was born. i was born in 1984 and he was born in 1988, so i must've been four or five, but i can't remember much else before that. i also remember playing catch with my dad in the living room and accidentally throwing the ball and hitting him in the nuts (hilarious, he went down hard), but i can't pinpoint my age. there's also a vague memory of me walking around the backyard of my grandparent's home on a very hot summer afternoon. a tiny pool was set up for the grandchildren's enjoyment, grandma was cooking food, and the summer heat had everyone reaching for beers... although, i'm still unable to grasp which memory came first.
i feel like it's just out of reach. it seems that any unlinked memory is lost to my mind's creativity. my mind tends to connect the dots and produce a full story and sequence to any of my unlinked memories, which causes an interesting confusion.
have you ever looked at a photo or listened to a story so many times that your feel like you were actually there? it may be something from your childhood and at times you may not be certain if it actually happened or if your mind fabricated the experience over time.
photos and stories play a big role in my mind's ability to recognize memories and for this reason i journal, blog, and try to document everything i do. one day i'll crack open my box full of artifacts, movie tickets, concert tickets, countless photos, and journal entries in hope of feeling and remembering my favorite life experiences.
i believe the study of the mind is the future of science. a better understanding of the intricate nature of the mind may help us better interpret feelings and ideas. i feel like we're a society that has yet to tap into the deep thought examinations that may shake up the certainties of our known philosophy, innovation, and perspective.
- TANGENT ALERT -
we are raised to believe that we've expanded our ability to absorb knowledge due to our advances in technology.
unfortunately, i don't feel like this is the case.
all of our advances are credited to the smartest of our society and the average joes, including myself are riding the coattails of the ingenious minds of our world.
a friend of mine shared the following conundrum. how long would it take for an average joe to create the microwave, if given a household computer? the process may take years or even decades of exploration and experimentation. but why? we are the most technologically advanced society in the history of the human race, but there are probably only a handful of people actually responsible for the ease of use offered by google, the invention of the internet, and the development of such tools as the iphone or the global cellular network.
we have become reliant on the skills of others to solve our problems.
help resource centers solve our computer problems with a 10 minute phone conversation. teachers provide students with directions that often give away the answers. i feel like our future will require us to regress technologically and redevelop some of our advances, so that one day the average joe can understand and manipulate the technologies to better suit their needs.
- TANGENT COMPLETE -
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
in all, i remember faces.
my life's chronology can become uncertain, but the faces, the people i meet and share experiences with, are the key. i've worked 8 summers at a summer camp in wisconsin. i have countless memories during my time at my camp and the only way i can determine when something happened is to determine who was at camp during that specific summer. through deduction i'm able to pinpoint when things happened.
when my memory becomes fragile, at least i'll have the faces as my historical markers.
i'm a rec management major and one of my class assignments was to develop and lead an experience in teambuilding and initiative activities. our presentation date was approaching so, i scheduled a group meeting on campus. we initially planned to meet inside, but i decided to scratch that idea and meet under the setting sun. i arrived fifteen minutes early and took a seat at a picnic table. i spent the first few moments pushing the stress from my mind and a few deep breaths later, i was able to fully enjoy my time alone. it was the perfect opportunity to relax and reflect on the day. the green grass, the tall trees, and a few parents with their children kept my mind at ease as i waited for my group to arrive. a minute felt like an hour and this, coming from a serious go go go society, was a refreshing change from the norm.
i've become more aware of the pace of the world around me and i'm making a conscious effort to slow down.
i glanced around the area and spied a woman hiding in the bushes. initially, i was startled by her, but then i realized that she was a mother hiding from her 2 year old son. i scanned the area another time and saw the young man appear from behind a tree. he was running full throttle with an ear to ear smile on his face. his happiness and excitement spread across the air and hit me right in the chest.
it made me wonder, will this child remember this moment?
is there anything i can do to help him remember that feeling of pure happiness?
i was intrigued and decided to consider my own earliest memory. it was troubling to find that, after 25 years, my mind is already clouded with all sorts of mix matched details and experiences. in one early memory, i recall holding my baby brother after he was born. i was born in 1984 and he was born in 1988, so i must've been four or five, but i can't remember much else before that. i also remember playing catch with my dad in the living room and accidentally throwing the ball and hitting him in the nuts (hilarious, he went down hard), but i can't pinpoint my age. there's also a vague memory of me walking around the backyard of my grandparent's home on a very hot summer afternoon. a tiny pool was set up for the grandchildren's enjoyment, grandma was cooking food, and the summer heat had everyone reaching for beers... although, i'm still unable to grasp which memory came first.
i feel like it's just out of reach. it seems that any unlinked memory is lost to my mind's creativity. my mind tends to connect the dots and produce a full story and sequence to any of my unlinked memories, which causes an interesting confusion.
have you ever looked at a photo or listened to a story so many times that your feel like you were actually there? it may be something from your childhood and at times you may not be certain if it actually happened or if your mind fabricated the experience over time.
photos and stories play a big role in my mind's ability to recognize memories and for this reason i journal, blog, and try to document everything i do. one day i'll crack open my box full of artifacts, movie tickets, concert tickets, countless photos, and journal entries in hope of feeling and remembering my favorite life experiences.
i believe the study of the mind is the future of science. a better understanding of the intricate nature of the mind may help us better interpret feelings and ideas. i feel like we're a society that has yet to tap into the deep thought examinations that may shake up the certainties of our known philosophy, innovation, and perspective.
- TANGENT ALERT -
we are raised to believe that we've expanded our ability to absorb knowledge due to our advances in technology.
unfortunately, i don't feel like this is the case.
all of our advances are credited to the smartest of our society and the average joes, including myself are riding the coattails of the ingenious minds of our world.
a friend of mine shared the following conundrum. how long would it take for an average joe to create the microwave, if given a household computer? the process may take years or even decades of exploration and experimentation. but why? we are the most technologically advanced society in the history of the human race, but there are probably only a handful of people actually responsible for the ease of use offered by google, the invention of the internet, and the development of such tools as the iphone or the global cellular network.
we have become reliant on the skills of others to solve our problems.
help resource centers solve our computer problems with a 10 minute phone conversation. teachers provide students with directions that often give away the answers. i feel like our future will require us to regress technologically and redevelop some of our advances, so that one day the average joe can understand and manipulate the technologies to better suit their needs.
- TANGENT COMPLETE -
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
in all, i remember faces.
my life's chronology can become uncertain, but the faces, the people i meet and share experiences with, are the key. i've worked 8 summers at a summer camp in wisconsin. i have countless memories during my time at my camp and the only way i can determine when something happened is to determine who was at camp during that specific summer. through deduction i'm able to pinpoint when things happened.
when my memory becomes fragile, at least i'll have the faces as my historical markers.
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