Relying on memory

Greetings

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Our memories are flawed. Our memories are infused with the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and are often influenced by how we perceive ourselves and how we want to be perceived. When I was writing my book, which includes recounting of experiences, how I felt about a particular experience came through in my choice of words. At the same time, I believe we interpret everything around us on the basis of our own experience and chances are high that each reader digested my words and my retelling of a memory in a different way.

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In the short essay, How False Memories Shape Personal Identity, Ayesha Habib concludes, “The act of remembering is an act of creating. When we remember something, we are recalling past events through the lens of our current selves. The memories we conjure are constantly evolving and shifting alongside our self-perception. Remembering, then, is a constant discovery of oneself.”

This resonated in such a real way.

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I have written quite a bit about journalling over the years, in particular how it has helped me navigate the world. In a way, it serves as a form of therapy similar to what poetry was for me when growing up. In Against Journaling, Dennis Tang writes about the Joys of Not Writing It All Down, particularly as a writer. He defines a journal as “a chronological recording of events as they happen” which, in my view, is more of a diary as unpacked in Journal vs. Diary: The Art of Personal Writing. This doesn’t negate Tang’s article where he also explores the fallibility of memory.

I think where I veer from Tang’s view is tied to the purpose of the journal. I do not use it to try and remember. It is more about the process, what the act of writing every day does for me, particularly with Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages: “… three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. *There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages*– they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and
synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put
three pages of anything on the page...and then do three more pages tomorrow.”

To be honest, I don’t even go back over my journals.

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I just finished reading Alistair Mokoena’s Servings of Self-Mastery: Bite-sized pep talks to unlock greatness. It is always potentially awkward reading the book of someone that I know but that wasn’t the case in this instance. It is a good easy read that gives a glimpse into the lessons that Alistair has learnt as he navigates life. I enjoyed the way he provides context for his perspectives. It didn’t all resonate and the ideas weren’t all new (for me, at least), but that is natural. You can check out this extract Action without results is inconsequential for a greater sense of the writing.

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I first came across the idea of a Now page in a conversation Derek Sivers had with Tim Ferriss on Ferriss’ podcast. On his site, he writes, “I used to wonder what my friend Benny Lewis was doing. He has a website and social media accounts, but neither gave an overview of what he’s doing now. Then I realized some people might wonder the same about me. So in 2015, I made a /now page on my website, saying what I’d tell a friend I hadn’t seen in a year.”

Intrigued, I reached out to him and setup a /now page on my website. While I don’t maintain it as regularly as I would want to, I do think it is kind of cool. While public, it also serves as a form of accountability to myself. He also has a link to short profiles of all the people that have Now on his site.

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This year has been a good one for my podcast Listen To Your Footsteps, with episodes coming out every fortnight. Eventually, I will go weekly. My most recent episode is with Thando Pato.

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Getting a peek into what was going on behind the scenes when a musician was recording an album is always a treat for me and have a growing collection of books - biographies, autobiographies, memoirs - on musicians and music. When reading about a specific artist’s life, I like to submerge myself in the music for the duration of the read. Increasingly there are podcasts that do the same, like Broken Record which was created by Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin. Although an older episode, I just finished listening to the episode in which Stormzy talks to Rick Rubin about his album This Is What I Mean.

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For my birthday earlier this year, a friend put together a playlist for me with songs that, from his perspective, are part of my life’s soundtrack. It is currently sitting at 111 songs and runs for over 9 hours. I often put it on shuffle when working and find myself ‘remembering’ regularly.

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That’s it for today. Please share, subscribe and/or comment.

Also, check out my podcast and book Listen To Your Footsteps.

Easy

Kojo