When you take a photograph, what do you focus on? Are you watching the camera? Is how you frame the image the main focal point? Does this truly capture how you feel in that moment? Or, are your senses giving you more information about why and what you are capturing?
Photographs are windows to an experience.
Photographs are windows to an experience but they aren’t the experience. Not exactly. If you are really present, you will be feeling more layers of understanding, more life, than just stepping outside of it for a moment to snap a photo. Many people use images to re-live something. To remember someone’s face or pets who have long ago passed away. Yet, nothing comes close to your personal experiences and the intensity of the memories that they might deliver to you, if you just …. think about them.
Memory enhancement is possible.
Memory enhancement is possible. It can be carved out of many layers of an experience or by selecting ideal combinations of them. It all depends on you. Simple things can trigger a memory. A smell. A place. Someone’s voice or face. Observing others. An event. Being in a special place. An emotion. In a rather strange way, assembling memories is like taking a photograph. Many snapshots of experience can be pieced and/or triggered to come together.
Visual snapshots.
Have you ever glimpsed at something, only to notice more about that snapshot later? For some reason, more information floods into your thoughts about that image, place or thing. Your mind has taken a visual snapshot and is sending you a delayed download on what this could mean. What I am suggesting is that photographic memory has it’s roots here, but there are other elements that can also pull in details.
Word snapshots.
Commands such as STOP, YEILD are ingrained in driver’s training along with colours associated with them. But we all have words that are triggers for people, places and things as well. For instance, violet is not only a colour but my grandmother’s name. Green is not only a colour but a code for environmental movement to preserve the environment. Certain words stick with us when we scan a page. Use them to find, recall or sort things later.
Emotional snapshots.
You’re at the top of the mountain. Booted feet snap into downhill ski bindings, you adjust your goggles and take a turn down a very steep slope. It’s deep with powder. To your excitement, you float and feel the snow splash your face. The sun is shining on this bluebird day. That feeling, that happiness, is etched in your memory. What an incredible day! The best day yet. This is just an example of how we invoke a memory. Whenever the sun shines on our face, we can close our eyes and invite that bluebird day into our experience. It’s a powerful memory tool and it also can serve as another happy place when we are stressed out.
Sound snapshots.
Music is a fantastic medium to invite memories and the emotions connected to them. Imagine driving and a song comes on the radio that instantly transports you back twenty years. You remember your life then, and now. Events stand out. People stand out. Nostalgia filters through your mind. Good and bad memories are possible here. It just relies on your filter at the time you hear songs.
Making sense of scents.
As a small child I would watch my mother bake bread. The smell of the yeast and the bread fresh from the oven brings back memories. Even today when I walk past a bakery, I think of home, family, being happy and loved. Even when people pass on, these types of memories keep our hearts close to them. It’s healing and brings stability in a world that might not always offer peace.
Presence in the present.
If we are skilled in how we sense our environment, the vibe will let you in on more information about your present moment. While physicists will tell you that perception has influence on what we see and expect, our subconscious mind and mind will take things to uncharted levels. Here, there are no limitations. The veil lifts. The smokey mirrors waft and fade. More detail is known and translated into memory through intuition.
Stillness, mind chatter & electronic distraction sickness.
Stillness and mindfulness are popular topics but they are both a lifelong practise. Not always will minds be still. Nor will standardized mindfulness be useful. What matters is being able to master one’s distraction, to learn how to be more focused and observant. Many people suffer from an attachment to their phones. Being able to search Google whenever a thought enters their minds and using internet surfing to instantly quench their curiosity can be addictive. People become slaves to social media responses and forums. It wastes a lot of ” life” time. Just a few minutes a day in meditation, introducing visualization to that session, will offer incredible benefits. An enhanced memory is just one of those. But you just might see a shift in your ability to be present as well as notice an improvement in mental clarity and have less interest in distractions. It’s progressive, self-empowering and healing.
Since we are such visual creatures, try enhancing your memory with visual snapshots. Collect them like photos. Add layers to what they mean to you to enhance the memory. This is an incredible path that only requires you to be “present”. And, one that taps into and expands your mind and it’s capabilities on many new levels. The sky is the limit!
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