Occasions allow space for memory creation. Some are happy, some are hard, but they all become us in the end, or we become them. It’s in the blend of encounters, images, sounds, smells and touches that life draws a bigger picture. But what is our place in all this? Where do we come in all this construction of a life? Are we but elements in this creation? Or are we active creators? How much of our life do we actually choose to build with intent from those memories?
If every occasion in our stories is lived, truly, and if we believe in our will to take action and make choices, then we are the creators of those memories too. But, if we wait for occasions to create a vibe, and we take that vibe, adopt it, love it or hate it, then we are but followers of a creation outside of ourselves. How do we know when we are creating or waiting? Aren’t we making a choice, either way, thus creating memories anyway? Do we choose when to create and when to wait? Or are we programmed to choose? If so, what is our source code, and can we access it consciously? Some say the story of our life flashes in front of our eyes just before we die. Is this our way of summing up our stories and memories and making one final choice: accept, or regret?
Whatever the answers to those questions are, one thing remains clear. In every moment of every occasion in our short life, a memory is being created, an encounter is forged, an image is constructed, a sound is played, a smell is absorbed, a touch is received and perceived, and all this is stored, coloured and endorsed by our own judgement of where this should go; buried deep in historical archives, or nurtured and retrieved whenever we need it. We, or something in us, makes those decisions day in, day out. How we decide to approach those memories, and what we do with what we decide, is then the blueprint of who we (choose to) become.
Therefore, it seems to me that we have a huge responsibility to carefully and meticulously observe the memories we are creating, not in the sense of depriving ourselves from living them spontaneously, but in the sense of being mindful that everything we do, think and feel will be stored, retrieved and either accepted or regretted later. Therefore, we can choose, here and now, to love this moment, however hard it might be. We can choose to see it in positive light, because we can do this, and it’s our duty to ourselves and to those we’ll share our memories with, to honour our precious life with all its memories, with all its pulsing power in every single moment of every single day. For we are all living evolving ever-expanding memory-vessels, and it’s our duty to use that energy to bring us together with the world that we create, within and without.
What memories did you create today?
