Why it’s good to remember

I recently borrowed a friend’s car. I was excited to get back behind the wheel and feel that freedom again after a period of not driving. I was also slightly nervous! My brain was filled with questions like, ‘How do I turn it on?’ (some cars don’t need keys now?!), ‘What if I crash?’, and ‘Does it take leaded or unleaded petrol?’ This last one stopped me in my tracks. I was taken aback. Leaded petrol has been banned for over twenty years! Yet, in my excited state, I had reverted to an old frame of reference. This is intriguing in its own right, and I talk more about the quirks of memory in another blog.

A trip down memory lane

I admitted the anachronistic thought to my friend and we laughed that at least I hadn’t asked if it took 3 or 4 star! We then had a chat about all the things that we used to worry about with cars - using the choke to start, checking the oil using the dipstick before a long journey, and so on. My friend, now in his eighties, remembered being driven around on the running board of his grandfather’s car on their country estate. That conversation provoked distant memories of mine from the 1970s of overtaking slow cars on the motorway that had signs in the rear window that said ‘running in, please pass’. Then my friend remembered the joke signs of ‘running out, please push’! It was a lovely, organic conversation that ended up triggering a lot of memories that I wouldn’t normally think about.

The value of remembering

Everyone has probably had this experience of suddenly glimpsing the past through a keyhole in the present. The effect can be quite surprising. Sometimes it happens, as it did for me, that our thoughts flip back in time unprompted. Equally, you might intentionally reflect on the past with an older relative and recover more detail as you delve for longer.

There could be several good things that arise from this:

• You are reminded of both the good and bad things about the past. It’s good to take off our rose-tinted spectacles from time to time!

• You appreciate and value what you have now.

• You are brought together with other people when you share what you remember. 

• You can reflect on how you have changed and matured and what you have learned, including the new skills you need to navigate modern life.

These are just some of the reasons why it is good to spend a bit of time thinking in detail about the past in relation to the present. My Story In Words is an excellent opportunity to do just that. You can explore what you miss and what you’ve lost, but you’ll probably realise that you have gained so much.

Start your My Story In Words journey here.