Sunday, January 11, 2015

Memories

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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