Lately, I’ve been having a hard time remembering things. Today I went to my safety deposit box and, after rifling through it, promptly forgot to retrieve my key and exited the vault. Thankfully my bank is a small one and immediately called me to retrieve it.
This year, it appears, I am in a trifecta of forgetfulness. First off, I’m just plain getting older, and forgetfulness is part of the aging process. I like to think of it as having too much stuff crammed in my brain from living and learning all those years. Something’s got to disappear—like my thirty-six hours of college French, how to weave lanyards from plastic lacing, or the presidents’ names in chronological order.
But aging is only part of it. We actually have a “forgetting curve”. After a day, we begin to forget what we have learned unless we review the material. Without reinforcement, we only retain a fraction of the material. Duh, so that’s why we were told to study for a test!
Can you remember the plot of a book you read or a movie you saw last summer?
I can only tell you the context or how it made me feel, but that’s about it. Thankfully, with the internet, we don’t need to depend on our memories to remember everything. We can just look it up. Hopefully, we’re still able to remember enough to research the topic.
Then, the nemesis COVID has contributed to my absentmindedness. The whole situation, plus the country’s racial tension, has raised my anxiety level to record highs. And guess what? Anxiety interferes with focus, memory, and sleep.
Also, …. I can’t remember what I was going to tell you…Oh, well, I’ll blog about it next time. I need to get this posted if I can remember how.
Sources:
Why We Forget Most Of The Books We Read https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-we-forget-most-of-the-books-we-read?utm_source=pocket-newtab retrieved June 5, 2019
Pandemic Anxiety Is Making Us Sleepless, Forgetful And Angry. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/anxiety-coronavirus-sleep-memory-anger-focus/2020/04/03/61dab1b0-75b9-11ea-85cb-8670579b863d_story.html retrieved July 1, 2020
Recent Comments