ethel’s words

Click your browser’s “Back” button to return to SmashingIkons

REMEMBERING

“I’m losing my memory”, we hear persons say.

I suggest they, in most cases, are not losing their “memory” but, rather, their remembering ability.

This is a “skill”, a “talent”, a function. It must be “remembering ability” that enables us to “learn”. When we say we have “learned” something, we mean we remember it, as well as, usually, gained understanding of it--whether complex or simple.

We expect a loss of remembering ability as we age, as well as diminishment of stored “memories”.

There is little opportunity, at least for me, to test this ability. So I write my essays and wish I could judge what I have written. And, have I already written it before? That would be deplorable, but only a fortunate few have a clean “rememberer”.

I ask, is there any new insight in it? Is it written well enough that the thought--the thinking--is clear?

I ask that question really wanting answers. What do I do now? There must be a standard and a custom, but I can’t remember.

Ethel C. Hale