Some of the memories I’d have been quite happy to forget, yet it’s been an oddly therapeutic experience overall so far. I may not have always reacted to events in a way that I would’ve wanted, but with the benefit of hindsight, and viewing such reactions in the wider context of who I was at the time and how I’ve changed, I can at least understand why the person I was then made those mistakes, and reassure myself that in the same situation now I’d react differently. Perhaps in that understanding I can accept those memories as part of who I was, rather than continuing to feel embarrassed about my younger self’s reactions to events.

It means a lot to hear about those of you joining in on this little experiment, and I hope your recall is proving to be a positive experience. Here’s to Week 2!

To round out this first week, I found a couple of memory-related links which are worth a look:

- Using Technology to Remember the Future
- Genetic Markers of Alzheimers Risk Identified

Finally, an intriguing TED lecture about the increasing role of external tools – such as smartphones and the internet – to outsource human processes such as memory:

I’ll be using the hashtag #30memories on Twitter for any discussions or updates, so if you fancy joining in, no doubt I’ll see you there! While I encourage you to explore your memories and see what you can find, I’ll be posting occasional memory prompts on Twitter as an optional starting point, something to springboard off if your mind goes blank, and I’ll be sharing links to articles and videos related to the topic that I come across.

If you fancy joining in, please note the previously-mentioned guidelines, particularly with regard to sharing personal memories. I want this month to be a positive experience for everyone involved, and that we can all relearn a little about ourselves as a result.

Time to delve into memory!

I was just about to go notebook shopping when I mentioned my plight to a good friend. She immediately dashed off, only to return with an exceedingly interesting green-gold notebook, full of rough, hand-made pages:

I love it. It’s shiny and soft, and the imperfections in the paper should make it a totally different prospect from typing on a keyboard.

Where are you going to record your memories? On a keyboard, or a phone, or on scraps of paper to be dashed into the fire? Or do you have a carefully-chosen or fortuitously-obtained notebook saved for a worthwhile purpose?

I’ll be posting regularly over the next week, counting down to the start of April, trying to build a little more awareness of this project, and seeing whether anyone else is interested in joining in. Full guidelines are provided in the post linked above, but feel free to deviate into whatever aspect interests you the most.

Tomorrow: the book of memories!

The question of how to preserve virtual worlds has become one of growing prominence in the 21st century, the subject of research by Stanford University and the Library of Congress amongst others. If we agree that much can be learned about a culture from its art and media, then it stands to reason that massively-multiplayer online games – as a form of media built primarily on the interactions of multiple players and the creation of ad-hoc communities – could be an invaluable source of anthropological data for any future historians trying to understand the values and mores of society in the first two decades of the new millennium. Digital preservation of games previously focused on recovering code from decaying floppy discs – and ensuring the survival of outdated hardware or emulation to run it on. That may be enough, but only as long as a game is playable on a single machine. With the rise of online play, digital preservation suddenly became a whole lot more challenging.

To go on is to condemn an innocent to death. It will not be my hand on the blade, but if it is my insistence on continuing – when I could turn away from destiny, ignore what was written, spend my life in simpler pursuits – is her death not equally on my hands?

I pause, then turn and walk back the way I came. She lives. Now I have two memories of this moment, held in endless superposition.

Rapture.

How many memories have I formed in my lifetime? I can’t keep track of everything; not all of it is relevant to the person I am now. How many memories have I forgotten? It’s been on my mind recently, especially in light of an unpleasant streak of early-onset Alzheimers in my extended family: if my memory is fallible, I want to find a way of keeping my most important memories safe.

Which brings me to Thirty Memories. For the duration of the month of April, I’ll be writing down one memory per day, dredging up whatever comes to mind and trying to recall as many of the details of that memory as I can, the people, the places, the textures, how I felt about it, and doing my best to describe it all. Part memory-reclamation, part writing exercise.

By the end of the month, I’ll have a notebook full of memories. They may not be treasured – I’m assuming that at least some of them I would rather forget – but they will all be part of me, and perhaps by writing them down, by following the threads of meaning to which they’re tightly bound, I’ll be able to retrieve more of my past than I could otherwise.

I’ve already had some interest from other people in joining in, so I’ll be tweeting about my preparations and progress under the #30memories hashtag. Feel free to comment here or on twitter (@rob_haines) if you’re interested in joining our little adventure! Finally, while I know most of this probably doesn’t need to be said, I wanted to add a few guidelines to anyone who wants to join in:

• Write down one memory each day in April, in as much or as little detail as you feel is appropriate.
  
• Memory can be a very personal thing. I won’t be blogging most of my memories; between TMI, personal embarrassment and the chance of alienating friends/relatives who may remember an event in very different terms, it seems a risky idea at best. (I won’t say “Don’t!“, but simply suggest taking some time to consider other people’s feelings before posting!) Remember that anything posted to the internet is public and immutable, and you may never be able to take it back.
• As a corollary to the above, if you know anyone else taking part, please don’t ask to read their memories unless they’ve directly offered, without suggestion, coercion or expectation.
• At the end of the month, your memories are yours to do with as you like. Keep them in a notebook. Read them in the dark. Pass them on to your children, or grandchildren. Tear out the pages and burn them, watching the ashes rise, or bury the memories back in the depths if they’re still too raw to face.
• I’m lucky enough to have never experienced traumatic events in my life. If you have, please be careful, and remember that talking to a close friend or loved one can often help if you feel alone with your memories.

I’m looking forward to seeing how many of my lost memories I can reclaim in the course of a month!

To finish off this week’s HeavenWard art, a poster of the main cast. Thanks for looking!