Tag: memory

Fear of Being Forgotten and Other Immortality Issues…

Fear of Being Forgotten and Other Immortality Issues…

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Memory is a tricky bitch on extremes as we tend to remember either only the very best moments of our lives or the most shitty ones for the rest of our days. Any memory in between is just a vague one, bound to wither away soon after they are made. Like faulty productions of the mind taken to an abandoned slaughterhouse, to make space for proper, more memorable ones.


Seriously, nobody commemorates five days after their insignificant thirteenth birthday, when they had a mediocre steak sandwich on a dull day, with a cousin they thought little of. That’s exactly why we want to make good memories not only for us, but for other people around us… just for the sake of being remembered or simply not being forgotten.


 

As mentioned before memories are only immortal if they’re on extremes. We can choose to be either super-nice or plain assholes. We can be the new Florence Nightingale or the next Hitler. There’s no grey in Yin Yang and there’s certainly no place for average Joes in memories. To survive in memories and not to fade away, we have to pick sides.


So, what are we trying to achieve here?


Eternal life or a mere illusion?


Ancient gods allegedly leashed catastrophes upon Earth, where they are still alive and kicking inside mythological books, residing in the minds of religiously-driven individuals. How come people heard of Gilgamesh from a totally different geography from thousands of years ago and not their own great grand father who was probably a simple farmer as well as their reason of existence, couple of blocks (farms) away? What makes us a god? What makes us a hero? What resets us to zero?


Artists create masterpieces, to mark their presence onto the timeline and to carry their names into next generations.The irony is that their masterpieces surpass their intended personal fame and remembrance. Who knows jackshit about Picasso’s dad, Monet’s granny or Charlie Chaplin’s real parents? (You didn’t even know he was an orphan, did you?)


Ordinary people make children. Mini versions of themselves to be immortal. To be living forever in the egg-shelled minds of their offspring who won’t even care who had shagged who to create them when they reach an able-minded age to think about their own survival.


And there!!! Overpopulation contributed by each like-minded individual for the sake of being remembered leads to hunger, unemployment and even pollution. So, the cost of just wanting to be remembered is actually the cause of most current world issues.


Someone once asked me why I tried to make them happy without wanting anything in return. Perhaps, I just want to be remembered by someone without causing any global issues.

Why do we kiss?

Just observe the world. You will not find one animal that kisses its partner to demonstrate its affection. Fish, birds, gazelles don’t do it and no, your cat or dog is not kissing you. It might be touching you with its mouth because you hug its head in point blank range and its mouth just touches your skin. It’s inevitable. And plants… they certainly can’t kiss each other. So, that leaves us…humans; the only kind that kisses others for pleasure. But why do we do it? Is it just an unavoidable perk of evolution or is there something deeper behind all that kissing?

Here are some thoughts:

1. Kissing violates personal space. The no go zone is conquered in the most pleasant way.

2. All your senses are heightened as you approach your partner for a kiss; the eyes have microscopic view of the loved one’s facial features although they also contribute to spoiling of the eyes if you keep them open during the time, the nose picks up smells that normally vanishes into the air when there’s distance, the ears can hear sounds of affection, the touch is performed by one of the most sensitive organs (the lips) and the taste? The lips and the tongue can make you experience flavors you’ve never experienced before as everyone has a different flavor. 

3. Kissing is good for the immune system as partners exchange thousands of bacteria which strengthen each other’s immune system. However, I highly doubt we kiss for medical concerns.

4. Kissing each body part has a different meaning; the lips show romantic affection, the hands demonstrate respect and the butt (not literally) tells a lot about a person’s lowly character (kissing the butt literally just shows you have a kind of weird fetish)…

And finally, kissing improves the memory! The first romantic kiss is never forgotten as it marks your transcourse from infancy to puberty….

I remember my first kiss like it was yesterday (although it happened more than a quarter century before) Her name was Rosemary, a Dutch, red-headed gal who put me over the clouds for at least a week. 

So, if you would like to share your story of your first kiss, please feel free to comment…

Having a solid long-term memory: A blessing or a curse?

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It’s weird (and not in a good way) to be able to remember your 3rd birthday celebrations when you are a few months short of celebrating your 40th. And when it’s just not the special days of your infancy that you remember, it feels like a curse. Falling face down from the feeding chair, screaming upon seeing a common house fly from up close for the first time or remembering every gibberish word of the neighbor complimenting how smart I was. I’m the only one in the family who remembers all these junk memories and that makes me…feel lonely. I do feel a little lucky, though. I don’t remember anything prior to my third year in this life and I don’t remember what I had for lunch on a specific date either. Errr…at least not every day of my past life. (The sloppy Joe I had for lunch on 22 September 1991 was exceptional! It deserves a mention :))

Growing up with this blurse (blessing-curse) was pretty difficult, too. Especially, my love life was ruined; remembering every single fight as well as the good stuff while my significant other(s) were able to remember the not so good parts. I never missed an anniversary though, so that was a huge plus. Not being able to forget how I felt after a good night or a good fight, while my partner(s) having fading away feelings was the downside.

Anyway, the best part of this whole memory mojo, was that I became a writer; using a lifetime of memories and retelling them in my stories. Perhaps now, others won’t forget or easily remember what they had  forgotten…

P.S: The song that goes with this entry is somehow “Sweet Child of mine” by GNR.