This morning I attended a writing class at the Edina Library. It was funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Like most writing classes, I was challenged to write for five minutes at a time about various subjects the instructor presented.
Like what happened to me when I was 20 years old...But I couldn't remember much of anything that happened to me at that age. So I wrote about that, and how a bit of memory loss is probably a good thing.
Certainly not like Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia that ravage our brains, but the convenient memory loss of those things that we really don't want or need to rehash.
By the way, I found it sobering to read in this morning's paper that Glen Campbell has Alzheimer's. I had a little crush on him for a while around the time that he was a lineman for the county.
On the other side of the coin, there was a "60 Minutes" segment last Sunday about people who remember everything that's ever happened to them, including dates and times. Only a hand full of folks have been documented with having this gift. One of those interviewed was Mary Lou Henner. What was fascinating to me was that not one of them, although they all seemed exceptionally bright, was using this gift for great accomplishments and they all had a mild form of OCD. It appeared they needed the OCD to keep their thoughts organized.
But the most interesting was the knowledge that the painful things they experienced, say, in their teens, stayed with them forever.
So, like I said, I'm kind of glad I don't have total recall about everything.
***
Like what happened to me when I was 20 years old...But I couldn't remember much of anything that happened to me at that age. So I wrote about that, and how a bit of memory loss is probably a good thing.
Certainly not like Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia that ravage our brains, but the convenient memory loss of those things that we really don't want or need to rehash.
By the way, I found it sobering to read in this morning's paper that Glen Campbell has Alzheimer's. I had a little crush on him for a while around the time that he was a lineman for the county.
On the other side of the coin, there was a "60 Minutes" segment last Sunday about people who remember everything that's ever happened to them, including dates and times. Only a hand full of folks have been documented with having this gift. One of those interviewed was Mary Lou Henner. What was fascinating to me was that not one of them, although they all seemed exceptionally bright, was using this gift for great accomplishments and they all had a mild form of OCD. It appeared they needed the OCD to keep their thoughts organized.
But the most interesting was the knowledge that the painful things they experienced, say, in their teens, stayed with them forever.
So, like I said, I'm kind of glad I don't have total recall about everything.
***
