I was listening to NPR radio the other day and the author, Martha Lear, who wrote Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss, was being interviewed. It was a call in show and one woman has my problem pegged. "We simply don't look," she said.
Earlier I had turned my phone on to see if it was fully charged. When it came on the first thing it said was the time--in GREAT BIG NUMBERS. I didn't even see the time, I was looking for the bars. So, by not looking, I was early BY ONE HOUR.
I can go to a restaurant and not know what my waitress or waiter looks like.
Phil often says, "Did you see that?"
"What? Where?"
Of course I missed it. I always miss it simply because I'm zoned out with my own internal dialogue and am not paying attention. I think this is a hazard of a natural born story teller, and not that I'm even that good of a story teller but I always have one going on in my head.
Do you look? Do you see things, or are you like me and think you have a lousy memory simply because you never noticed whatever it was in the first place?
9 comments:
Yes, I look...way too much I think.
I've been known to be looking at the stars out the front window WHILE I am driving and stopping to see cool clouds, or watching people when I should be concentrating on other things.
It doesn't seem to help with finding things, though, and forgetting about just about everything...there seems to be no cure for that.
Huh?
Could you repeat that?
I sometimes see too many things. I think it is part of being a social reject. I am too busy looking at all the things in the world and forget there are people here as well.
whacked to the side of the head can make you lose the buffer and when that happens people like Michael take in everything and are overwhelmed and see everything...hmmm both you and Michael are creative geniuses so maybe this is also a trait of those brilliant ones?
I think it's because you're so smart that your brain is preoccupied with all your smartness. That's my excuse, too, you know. We're geniuses.
I do tend to notice things. Of course I have the occasional brain blip, but mostly I think I do pay attention. That way I have interesting details to write about. When I write, that is.
It's hard for us creative types to notice little things like clocks and waitresses, because we're always so busy tinkin'
Interesting question. I think I take in the whole picture but none of the details unless it's something I'm keyed into. Thanks for making me think about this!
I used to have the greatest memory on the planet and now not-so-much. I've taken to writing myself very detailed notes about everything in my life. I'm a Mary Kay lady that has lots of faces, names, and details to worry about and I'm failing misreably at remembering all of it. Hence the detailed notes. However, in my defense, I had my brain shocked 3 times a week for almost 2 months last year. I blame that. I'm just glad that it only zapped my memory and not all of the other wonderfulness what that is me.
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