Diagnosis: Amnesia — and we all have it!
Oct 25th, 2008 by spaceagesage
Are you here right now or is your mind wandering away to dozens of distractions?
Whenever you do anything, is your mind focused on the task at hand or running wild with past or future issues nagging for your attention?
Even when relaxing, can you really let Calgon take it all away?
When we live in multi-tasking mind mode, be it working, worrying, or trying to unwind, we can suffer from what I call stress-induced amnesia. No I’m not a doctor, and I don’t think it is a real diagnosis, but I think we all suffer from it frequently. Here are some of the various types:
Amnesia of Success:
We forget our past successes because life moves so fast or the negatives seem so real that we don’t stop to realize just how capable we are and how much we contribute. We often forget or negate the many people we support and encourage by just being who and what we are.
Amnesia of Dreams
We forget some of the wild and wooly dreams of our childhood and teen years because we now find them undoable or childish. We forget that dreaming impossible dreams can help us find new paths (or ways of thinking) to even better dream fulfillment.
Amnesia of Our First Love
We forget the first things in our lives that fired us up, made us want to jump out of bed eagerly every morning, and sent us into a search for everything we could find on that one subject.
Amnesia of Lessons Learned
We forget an insight that once struck us or a moment of clarity where everything seemed to fit perfectly because we let the craziness and crazies of life distract us. How many times have we done something and then had a V-8 moment where we realize, “Oh man! I already knew that!”
Amnesia of our Heroes and Mentors
We forget the patterns set by those we admire and fall off the wiser path because of a Siren call to cut corners, to heed a selfish need, or to rationalize reason away with justification. How many of us have left decency in the ditch one time too many?
How do we regain our memory and overcome the amnesia?
Many people describe it many different ways. Here are a few:
- Living in your truth from moment to moment
- Be here now
- Mindfulness
- Conscious looking
- Being relaxed, not magnetized to attention grabbers
- Observing while letting go of attachments
- Being present
We can’t change what we can’t see, and being present allows us to see. I love how Riso and Hudson describe this in The Wisdom of the Enneagram (emphasis mine):
In fact, life is our greatest teacher. Whatever we are doing can be instructive, whether we are at the office, or talking to our spouse, or driving a car on the freeway. If we are present to our experiences, the impressions of our activities will be fresh and alive, and we will always learn something new from them. But if we are not present, every moment will be like every other, and nothing of the preciousness of life will touch us.
From my media fast and morning page writing, I’ve discovered ways to reconnect with the awareness necessary to really be alive in the present moment. It is helping me see things more clearly. I will admit, I’m at that stage of life where I’m really ready for this level of awareness. I have grown tired of being unable to change because every moment is like every other and therefore clarity can’t form in that moment except briefly and fleetingly.
When and where do you find yourself enjoying moments of clarity that help you grow and change as a person?
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More on this subject in future posts …
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Photo credit: speech path girl
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These posts may also interest you:
Writing down to the heart of creativity
Yes, I survived the week-long media fast — and learned lots!
Can I survive a week-long media fast?!
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I’ve been working on this for years, and that work has paid off handsomely. I’m grateful.
Hi Lori: This post made me think of the book “One Hundred Years of Solicitude” where the people in the town of Macondo got a disease where they couldn’t remember the names of everyday objects. They had to label everything: “table”, “chair”, “door”, and so on. I think a good cure for the amnesia you describe –which I completely agree most people suffer from–is to write things down: keep a diary of your successes, write down your dreams and look at them often, and so on.
Hi Jean,
It’s so good to hear of successes in this! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Marelisa,
Journaling, blog writing, diaries – yes, I agree — it’s good to realize just how far we have come.
Lori,
Wise words, but I tend to view from a different angle. To me “being in the present” and like mean being 100% focused on the here and now, and without regard to past or future. I think to fight this amnesia you talk about (which I do believe we’re all guilty of) it takes more of the awareness of the big picture.
ari
The more hectic the day, the heavier the amnesia kicks in. But sitting, writing, reflecting and maybe some good music (mellow music) in the background, brings me back to a more relaxed stage. To a place where I can think clearly and focus on what I want to accomplish. Sometimes, you just have to slow down a little ya know?
Hi Ari,
Thanks for the perspective. I guess I see clarity arising from being more in the present – that it sharpens the big picture for you. I agree life is more than the moment, though. I see it as a tapestry in the process of being woven.
Hi Ricardo,
Slow down sometimes? Yes! The human body can adapt to stress and pressure and time constraints, but the price of that adjustment hits our immune systems and other areas of health sooner or later.
This is very, very important for me. I’ve been multitasking for so many years now that I seem to be addicted to the rush that comes with handling several things at the same time. But it comes with a price.
Hi Vered,
I think the “addiction to the rush” is a good way to explain it. I’ve read that big-time multi-taskers can actually feel emotional pain when they cut back or find themselves with nothing to do.
Hi Lori. Nature does it to me all the time. And I think it’s even more than being in the Now. It’s about appreciating the good times and believing you deserve it / success. It’s hard to absorb the good things and remember them if they don’t feel deserved.
I can most identify with your feeling on “I have grown tired of being unable to change because every moment is like every other and therefore clarity can’t form in that moment except briefly and fleetingly”. There are periods when I feel that my progress is slow and I just want to give up blogging so that I can go back to my cave and devote all my time to spiritual healing. Perhaps, a less drastic option like going on a media fast every once in a while is an idea that I can gather from you to explore for myself.
Hi Davina,
Nature or music or exercise seem to be the best for me.
Hi Evelyn,
I hope you don’t drop blogging! Progress does slow down for times that are longer than we’d like, but forward in inches is better than nothing. Blogging has helped me grow because writing helps solidify what I’ve learned and because people who comment keep me motivated.