When asked in job interviews to list my strengthens, my first response is always that I have a pretty good memory. I pride myself in remembering names and even tiny details about someone's personality or appearance. I can even remember snapshot moments of when I was a young child. My mom will often say, "Oh you probably don't remember when this happened. You were too young". More times than not I can almost always recall the event. I can usually remember some random, unimportant detail about the event as well. My childhood memories are vivid and clear. However, as I get older, I've noticed a shift in my ability to remember things from even just ten years ago. This could potentially be a side effect of getting older, however, I think it is due to something much bigger and problematic.
When I was a kid my greatest concern was if I was going to get the "good" swing on the playground at recess. Life as a child is so simple and pure. Sure I spent a large amount of time watching Full House and The Simpsons, but for the most part I spent my days playing at the neighborhood park, building tree forts in my friend's backyard, and playing with my Barbies. I can distinctly recall the heart to heart conversations my friend Chris and I would have in front of his house late at night when we were 11. I can remember when Whitney's mom was at work and we spent the entire day singing and dancing around the house to the entire Spice Girls' album when we were about 10. I can still feel the sting of the metal seat belt in my dad's forest green Ford Taurus when it was 102 degrees and my parents took me to Valley Fair to cool off when I was 7. And I can vividly remember throwing an enormous temper tantrum on the beach in New Jersey when I was about 3 and falling asleep in the shade of my mom's beach chair shortly afterwards. These memories are so sharp that it's almost as if I am watching a film of my childhood. Currently I am only 25 and have a hard time remembering events from five years ago, last week, or even yesterday.
Of course, as you get older, life is not so simple and there's many things to juggle and remember, so it shouldn't be a surprise when I can't recall if I sent my rent check out or not. However, there's one huge, glaring difference between my childhood and adulthood. I grew up in a time when technology exploded. When I was a kid my mom had a car phone. The thing blew my mind! Now everyone has not just a cellular phone, but a small computer that is carried around in their back pockets. I remember when my sisters got one of those sample CDs of America Online. I couldn't even wrap my mind around the concept of the internet. Now here we are in 2012 and i am publishing my journal entries on the internet where anyone in the world who has access to the internet can read my entries.
Technology is amazing! However, it causes us to become completely disconnected from what is actually going on around us. During my heartfelt conversations with my neighbor, Chris, I wasn't distracted by incoming text messages or placing a bid on a pair of yoga pants on Ebay. I can recall the exact words we exchanged because I was absolutely present. How present can you be when you're more interested in the email you're receiving than the beautiful view in front of you? In no way am I saying I'm not guilty of these actions. I was on vacation on the breathtaking island of Vieques and i was most definitely checking Facebook while sitting on the beach. There's so many things wrong with that situation!
Lately the only time I'm completely disconnected from technology is when I'm on my yoga mat. It's pretty amazing what I can remember from my practices. I can literally feel the sweat dripping into my ear while holding Extended Side Angle in Colleen's class. I can see the distribution of weight in my hands teetering back and forth between my fingers and the heels of my hands while holding handstand in Lauren's class. Classes are typically only 60 minutes, but I can recall even the tiniest moments throughout those 60 minutes of completely focused bliss.
Of course I shouldn't need my yoga mat to be disconnected from technology. Every moment should be sacred and uninterrupted. Give yourself permission to disconnect so that you can reconnect with yourself. Maybe it's just for 30 minutes each day. Sit outside and watch the cars drive by. Lay in the grass and watch the clouds float along. Sit at your kitchen table and become entranced by the hum of your refrigerator. Even the most mundane moments have significance and can form an everlasting memory as long as you allow yourself to be present.
"Memory is the diary we all carry with us"
-Oscar Wilde
