For many of us, as we age, our brains experience some form of cognitive exodus.
Memories become like lemmings------jumping off the neurological cliff.
An entire industry has popped up to keep our memories tucked safely in their dens.
But writer Heather Armitage follows a different school of thought: Forget the gimmicks.
News and magazine articles devote considerable space discussing effective means of improving your memory.
Books contain memory-boosting techniques ranging from metal calisthenics to vitamin supplements.
Cookbooks even tout foods that are “brain-friendly.â€
So much time is spent improving memory that we've forgotten the benefits of having a bad one.
Sure, some of us can spend an afternoon in a parking lot trying to remember where we put our cars.
But often the benefits of a bad memory can outweigh the costs.
For example, when doctors know I have a bad memory, they forgive me for missed appointments.
No one expects me to remember the details of a story or the punch-line to a joke.
And after that one time, I'm never asked to pick up a friend at the airport.
A daily commute can be a tedious affair, but with a bad memory, each day includes a new discovery.
And the memory impaired are safe to have around.
We’ll never spoil the twist at the end of a film or divulge a secret.
Our attempts at gossip are more cryptic than juicy.
We tend to shift the burden of responsibility to the listener.
“You know that actress who was in the movie with the actor who played her father in another movie?
She just got married to the actor who, um, lives out west, I think. You know that actor. I know you know who I am talking about.â€
Another benefit is that small triumphs are positively thrilling.
Few get a shot of endorphins by remembering how to drive to the beach or remembering a friend’s birthday.
Others have to win races or climb mountains to get a rush and feel like a champion.
We just have to remember a phone number.
We never take anything for granted.
I look at the setting sun over the Great Bay on the way to my parents’ house like I am seeing it for the first time.
And in many ways, I am.
Of course there are some negatives.
Some people assume that we are forgetful because we are secretly geniuses.
When admitting that I forgot where I parked my car (again) some people wait for the rest of the sentence.
“I couldn’t find my car because I was pondering effective applications of nano-technology within a biological framework.â€
When the rest of the sentence doesn’t come they think I am keeping my genius under wraps.
When I worry about my bad memory I think of all the things I am grateful for forgetting.
Relationships that went horribly wrong, job interviews that went horribly wrong, the one time a friend asked me to pick her up at the airport.
One day I realized that forgetting is just a blissful way of letting go.
But maybe I already knew that.
Back Announce:
When she remembers the way, Heather Armitage finds her home in Kennebunk, Maine.
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