Write to Prime the Pump that is your Memory
by Patti M Hall
We all feel our memories are fading.
From an early age, our memories are selectively taking things from the ‘active’ file, shifting them to the ‘for later’ file, and sneakily moving details to the permanent ‘archive’ from where we fear we will never retrieve them.
I’ve got news for you – the memories are there.
I like to think of my memory as a pump that just needs a little priming to get working again. Give it a little water, or in this case word-fuel, and watch the machinery grind its way out of the dusty corner of the shed where it got tossed ten years ago.
The concept of cue-ing your memory was developed from my work with hundreds of people in classes and groups, almost all of whom told me that they had forgotten more than they remembered on the first day we worked together.
Then I witnessed a juicy cue remind M.B. about her passion for snow angels as a child, and another aspiring memoirist, R.M. wrote four pages about her beloved first car. Those were not topics that either person had thought of in decades. They also weren’t topics either of them thought would turn into favourites in their writing group.
Write to prime the pump that is your memory. I promise, it works.
Try this:
Read one of our writing cues, our #inspiringmoment posts are all over social media, and let your mind go immediately to the place where the graphic and words take you.
I also send 7 daily writing prompts each week in my #InspiringMoment newsletter.
SEND ME THE PROMPTS!
