flashbulb memories.
I have a very visual mind. Sometimes it's almost photographic. I can take pictures of words and images in my mind, and if stored correctly, I rarely forget them. It's kinda cool, and super helpful in certain school subjects.
Every person, however, has the capacity to form what are called "flashbulb memories". According to the ever-so-awesome Wikipedia, a " flashbulb memory is a highly detailed, exceptionally vivid 'snapshot' of the moment and circumstances in which a piece of surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) news was heard." I like to think of them as frozen moments in time that we can relive again and again. So awesome, yeah?! Our brains are awesome. I have a few of these, and my very first memory ever is actually a flashbulb memory. I was riding in the back of my family's 12 passenger van at the ripe age of 3 or 4. I think we were moving from Hemet, California to Escondido, California. I woke up in my car seat, and we pulled up to the house. As my eyes opened, I saw the car's interiors from the back seats, and the lawn of the new house. And that's it. That's the entire memory, a picture frozen in my mind. But I love it and treasure it because I loved life at that new house, and to me, that memory is the start of some really great years in a home I adored, surrounded by people I loved with my whole heart. If I was a talented artist I would paint that picture I see in my mind, but I don't know if even then I could get it perfectly right. It'll just stay in my mind, forever mine and mine only. ;)
You know the movie Big Fish? It's my favorite movie of all time (so far). I love the moment in the movie when he sees the love of his life, Sandra Templeton, for the first time. Time completely stops, and he sees only her, with all else frozen for quite some time. He says, "They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up." That's one of my favorite parts of the entire movie. That's what flashbulb memories are to me, frozen moments in time :)
Every person, however, has the capacity to form what are called "flashbulb memories". According to the ever-so-awesome Wikipedia, a " flashbulb memory is a highly detailed, exceptionally vivid 'snapshot' of the moment and circumstances in which a piece of surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) news was heard." I like to think of them as frozen moments in time that we can relive again and again. So awesome, yeah?! Our brains are awesome. I have a few of these, and my very first memory ever is actually a flashbulb memory. I was riding in the back of my family's 12 passenger van at the ripe age of 3 or 4. I think we were moving from Hemet, California to Escondido, California. I woke up in my car seat, and we pulled up to the house. As my eyes opened, I saw the car's interiors from the back seats, and the lawn of the new house. And that's it. That's the entire memory, a picture frozen in my mind. But I love it and treasure it because I loved life at that new house, and to me, that memory is the start of some really great years in a home I adored, surrounded by people I loved with my whole heart. If I was a talented artist I would paint that picture I see in my mind, but I don't know if even then I could get it perfectly right. It'll just stay in my mind, forever mine and mine only. ;)
You know the movie Big Fish? It's my favorite movie of all time (so far). I love the moment in the movie when he sees the love of his life, Sandra Templeton, for the first time. Time completely stops, and he sees only her, with all else frozen for quite some time. He says, "They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up." That's one of my favorite parts of the entire movie. That's what flashbulb memories are to me, frozen moments in time :)
Comments
Post a Comment