What We Miss

What We Miss

I have a new book that I'm eager to read:

THE INVISIBLE GORILLA

And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us

By Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons

It examines how frequently we miss the obvious when our attention is focused elsewhere and how often our memories differ from what actually happened.

The idea that my memories could be fictitious is frightening. When I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, was I really ecstatic to be there? When I went to the Cayman Islands, did I in fact step on a flounder fish? And what about memories that are specifically tied to other people? Am I embellishing intimate moments I've shared with others?

The truth is, I'll never know. I could ask friends and family but their memory is inaccurate as well.

With my current photography skills, it's a little easier to remember things as they happened. I can at the very least remember the places I've been and the people I've met. I could become a diligent journal keeper. There are ways of documenting my life that I'm not taking advantage of. I need to tell the story of my life, not only through pictures but with words and names. I'm almost 23 and I would like to be able to look back at my life when I'm 80 and have an accurate picture of what I once was.

I look too much to the future and I depend too much on the past. Friends would probably say I should live in the now, but the now is so fleeting. The past is a wealth of experieces that I fear I'm not drawing from. And without drawing from them, how can I make the infinite future a happier place for aging Heather?