By Dan Barber
Does my ancestors genetic memories flow through my body creating
new genes with new altered genetic memories that will also course through the
bodies of my descendants? What about conscious memories, can we identify those
memories? I believe we can if we pay attention to the little things.
Those little things can be facial expressions, tone of voice
expressing excitement, humor, happiness or sadness; and body language.
Interests can also be an indicator of conscious memory signals being passed
from generation to generation.
For example, when I was a child and would go out on walks
with my grandfather I noticed that he would often bend over and pick up a rock.
He would examine his find and if he thought it was interesting enough to add to
his rock collection he would put it in his pocket, if not he would discard it.
Years later when I would take a young granddaughter out for a walk I noticed her
pick up pebbles to examine them. If she found them pretty enough to keep they went
in her pocket, if not she discarded them.
Could that action have been caused by my beloved grandfather
sending me a signal that he was still around?
When any of my brothers tell a funny story I can hear the same
voice inflection they express from our grandfather’s own voice…another signal.
Just recently, I’ve noticed that when some tool or gadget I
own has broken, instead of buying a new gadget or tool to replace it, like I
used to do, I will try to repair the item, just as my father would try to do.
Even if I spend several days to accomplish the repair, if successful I feel a
great deal of pride from my accomplishment, knowing that my father would
approve…a signal sent and received.
My earliest memories of events I experienced with my grandfather
become my “lesson plan” that I use with my own children and grandchildren
because those life lessons he passed to me are valuable and I feel that it’s
important for my grandchildren to know them.
We are all individuals with our own experiences and biased
memories of those life events. I have been blessed in my career because I was
able to experience other people’s adventures through proxy by interviewing them
and then writing about them. But, would I trade places with any of those people
if I could? The short answer is “no!” The memories I have from my own existence
are precious treasures to me.
For those who are searching for the meaning for their life,
it is a simple search just pay attention to the little things.
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