'Who are we but the sum of our memories?'

[dolorosa_12]

Day 15 – Something you love about yourself
Told you I'd catch up!

This is one of the trickier questions to answer in this meme. It sounds arrogant to say 'I like myself', and of course I am full of the usual self-doubt and introverted pessimism, so it wouldn't be quite true. I am, however, at peace with myself, and have been for a long time.

The one thing about me I really love, however, is my amazing memory. (Oh yes, and I'm modest too!) My memory is really powerful when it comes to long-term things: I remember events from when I was three years old and above with perfect clarity, and once you get to the age of about six or seven, I can remember pretty much everything that happened to me. I remember, word for word, conversations I had with people when we were 14, I remember the Dance Festival routine we did in 2000, I remember the prices of all the products I sold at Bruno's Truffles (a place I worked when I was 15-18), and where each type of bread and pastry was placed in the display cabinets. I remember the topic of catpuccino's and my (and others') talk in English class in Year 10, I remember my gymnastics routines from 15 years ago, I remember the order in which I met every single ASNaC, I remember what every single one of my friends wore to Year 10 formal.

My memory is also good at storing useful information for a short period of time. When I was an undergrad, I frequently had to do exams where several questions were seen (ie, they were given out ahead of the exam) and several were unseen. I would write out the essays for the seen questions and then memorise them, word for word, and then regurgitate them, word perfect, in the exam. For language exams I would memorise all the set texts and what every single word was, grammatically (eg '1st person singular feminine accusative') and then spew all that out in the exam too. I memorised the entire IB biology syllabus in one night through mnemonics.

While this kind of memory ability is very useful, it has its downsides. It's very selective, and almost self-absorbed. I have a terrible short-term memory if it doesn't benefit me directly: I'm dreadful at putting names to faces without constant reinforcement, I'm vague with things like dates (I once famously thought it was Sunday when it was Saturday) and travel plans and still don't remember my UK phone number, although I've had it for over a year. My capacity for remembering large chunks of information means that I often have very little genuine knowledge of a particular subject, and it is telling that I struggle in subjects where I can't rely on this memorisation ability, such as abstract mathematics and speaking foreign languages.

Despite all this, I'm proud of my strange memory, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. My past means a lot to me, and if I couldn't remember it, I think I would lose something essential about myself.


Day 16 – Your first kiss
Day 17 – Your favorite memory
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday
Day 19 – Something you regret
Day 20 – Your morning routine
Day 21 – Your job and/or schooling
Day 22 – Something that upsets you
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry
Day 25 – Your sleeping habits
Day 26 – Your fears
Day 27 – Your favorite place
Day 28 – Something that you miss
Day 29 – Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 – Your aspirations

Comments

[miss-foxy.livejournal.com]

wow i had no idea you had such an amazing memory. that must be really, really helpful in a lot of situations. i have a very selective memory.

did you have to work on it at all or did it just come naturally?

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

It seems to have just happened naturally, although of course the remembering-whole-essays-before-exams thing was something I discovered I could do by accident.