The Slippery Mind
Forgetting.
The bane of aging.
I walk upstairs to get my sweater. By the time I clamber up the fouteen steps I forget what the hell I came upstairs for. I finally remember...the sweater, get it off the hook in the bedroom, go downstairs, out the door, get half-way to the car and realize I forgot the keys. I go back inside, upstairs again to get...what? What the hell did I come upstairs for? Keys, keys! I go into my study, get the keys, go downstairs, out the door, cross to the car, turn on the ignition and...Fuck!I forgot my glasses. So...Double fuck. I forgot where I left them last night.
And this is only the beginning of the day.
What is forgetting? I remember the old saying: "It slipped my mind." Good phrase. The receptor's in the brain can't hold onto an idea too long. Like a hand that has losts it's grip (Another great old saying: "I'm losing my grip." Old sayings are wonderful. Modern science doesn't reveal anything new about human life...it's just confirms old sayings with quantifiable facts!!!)
However (and I admit in pursuing the following lines of thought, I'm looking to avoid the incontrovertible: aging is a deterioration of physical skills, inner and outer...but indulge me) aging doesn't make you more forgetful...there's just more to remember: cell phones, hearing aids, long distance glasses, reading glasses, keys to the car, keys to the office, credit cards...not to mention a lifetime of people, places, events and names. I don't care how great a juggler you are...there is a critical mass of balls that finally make it impossible to keep them all in the air...or in your mind...at once.
I was reading an article why aging makes you less tolerant of stimuli, more desirous of and needing silence!! Peace of mind. Quiet time...and soft music. It was entitled: "Why the Aging Mind is Driven to Distraction". [more of this discussion later...First I have to re-read the article. I forgot the central point but I know it is relevant to my overall discussion. PS: I forgot another new ball we all have to discover: blogging and the computer!]
The bane of aging.
I walk upstairs to get my sweater. By the time I clamber up the fouteen steps I forget what the hell I came upstairs for. I finally remember...the sweater, get it off the hook in the bedroom, go downstairs, out the door, get half-way to the car and realize I forgot the keys. I go back inside, upstairs again to get...what? What the hell did I come upstairs for? Keys, keys! I go into my study, get the keys, go downstairs, out the door, cross to the car, turn on the ignition and...Fuck!I forgot my glasses. So...Double fuck. I forgot where I left them last night.
And this is only the beginning of the day.
What is forgetting? I remember the old saying: "It slipped my mind." Good phrase. The receptor's in the brain can't hold onto an idea too long. Like a hand that has losts it's grip (Another great old saying: "I'm losing my grip." Old sayings are wonderful. Modern science doesn't reveal anything new about human life...it's just confirms old sayings with quantifiable facts!!!)
However (and I admit in pursuing the following lines of thought, I'm looking to avoid the incontrovertible: aging is a deterioration of physical skills, inner and outer...but indulge me) aging doesn't make you more forgetful...there's just more to remember: cell phones, hearing aids, long distance glasses, reading glasses, keys to the car, keys to the office, credit cards...not to mention a lifetime of people, places, events and names. I don't care how great a juggler you are...there is a critical mass of balls that finally make it impossible to keep them all in the air...or in your mind...at once.
I was reading an article why aging makes you less tolerant of stimuli, more desirous of and needing silence!! Peace of mind. Quiet time...and soft music. It was entitled: "Why the Aging Mind is Driven to Distraction". [more of this discussion later...First I have to re-read the article. I forgot the central point but I know it is relevant to my overall discussion. PS: I forgot another new ball we all have to discover: blogging and the computer!]
posted by Cliff Osmond at 5:45 PM
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