Okay, took three reads, but I'm on board. You're right the initial read is just superficial. After all a moment not valued never becomes worthy of memory. Or perhaps the memory is just an echo of the original valuation.
Well... I think it means that, during the initial experience -- whatever it is -- is when we get the most "benefit" from something... The memory of the experience is nice but we only get one opportunity to actually "live it"... That is the "value" of experiencing something for the first time: We learn.
There is much to be said for living in an eternal 'now' and sucking the juice of existence, but reflective people might occasionally want to stop and savour the taste. But then I suppose you could say that when Wordsworth lay upon his couch in vacant or in pensive mood his recollection of the daffodils was his 'now'.
Well, I just got in my head about this and feel quite sure that when the sand completes it's fall, that goofy guy on the top will still be too large to stuff through the hole. I think...
If you don't value the moment, then you won't store it as a memory. I tend to remember only the very good or very bad moments. The insignificant moments are forgotten.
I value all of my memories but now I find the values have risen with age - those with old friends have gained much more value as the friends die and no more memories can be made. How much of ourselves we waste in our youth never realizing that everyone we know affects us and when that influence dies or disappears, we either commit to memory or conveniently "forget" so they don't cloud our present lives. I have taken to calling old friends out of the blue and talking for an hour or so just to reconnect - something I didn't do when I was still in the area. Now 500 miles away I am closer than before and their surprise at my call is a part of the joy I relish most. The value of now is unmeasurable.
Being "in the moment" is a real art form! This is something I am trying hard to capture in my life... after all the planning, paying and getting there, I am now learning to relax and soak up what's going on around me. I'll be testing this theory in August when I go to a family wedding in Hawaii. When I'm sitting on the sand, I want to ONLY be sitting on the sand. Thanks, John, this one hit home with me.
"After all a moment not valued never becomes worthy of memory. Or perhaps the memory is just an echo of the original valuation"
Vivian, that's an very interesting was to explain this Byte. I love the concept of considering memories as echos. Now you have me pondering ... but not before I get some coffee.
Susan, if "the memory of the moment is what makes the bad times in your life seem 'not so bad'" then maybe you are using memory to not experience life, even when it's not "good."
well my thoughts have not changed John but added to! even the value of hard lessons learned, and the pain of loss have helped me in life though memory.
just decided I can't keep missing your bytes just because of time restrsints till I get ti my home in southern Illinois John it may be days late and five at a pop but I love how your mind works! like a bit of therapy each day! Of course not many have said they consider it so. . .but then I am a bit odd, and plan on staying this way!
Einstein did say that the human mind has two different states of being. One perspective when we are actively engaged in something and an alternative perspective afterwards. It is a fact that the more time we put between when something is done and when we try and recall it, the accuracy of the memory is diminished.
I'd have to disagree. We judge value from hindsight. Sure, we can tell if a moment is good or bad, but I think the true value comes from digesting and living with the consequences of said moment. Also, we create and set our "value gage" by using it on memory. If we forgot all our memories, would we know what it is to value something?
Some of us have more memories than moments left! I hate to think I'm limited to the sand in the top of my hourglass. If the memories aren't treasures, why do we revisit them so often?
I value the moments. But sometimes the memories help you get through the moments. Like one year when my husband had cancer and stayed in the hospital about seven months out of that year. Those were dark days. But a few months before he was diagnosed with cancer we had taken a second honeymoon. On my darkest days the memory of those beautiful golden days helped me hold on.
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Chew on it a while, Dan.
good one to chew on slowly and savor,eh?
cheers,gayle
But the memory of the moment is what makes the bad times in your life seem 'not so bad'.
Now take a bigger byte, Sylvia. :)
Thanks.
And, it's not a question of "changing" your mind but "allowing" your mind.
See how this ties into the previous Byte about having "stuff?"
Vivian, that's an very interesting was to explain this Byte. I love the concept of considering memories as echos. Now you have me pondering ... but not before I get some coffee.
Caffeinless pondering can sprain your brain.
OK, Gayle, I really do need that coffee now.
That's part of what it can mean, Debra. I like your phrasing.
Remembering can be done in the Now. It does take a little practice — some spend their life discovering how.
So - was the value of this Byte in the thinking you did over it or the memory of what you decided?
BTW, there's nothing to agree or disagree with. That would imply that I am saying, "This is true."
That's a common view, Dianne. If you think about it, that may not be entirely true.
If it is, you might want to do something about it or not.
(Thanks.)
Very clever and, at one level, a totally different take on this Byte.
Thanks.
I like your example. Thanks,
value your memories they can make you smile at the bleakest times of your life
just got on saw this and wrote now I will read the thread at leasure while drinking my first cup of coffee...........
love it
The beach is a good place to get in touch with "being in the moment."
A wedding may be the hardest.
even the value of hard lessons learned, and the pain of loss have helped me in life though memory.
like a bit of therapy each day!
Of course not many have said they consider it so. . .but then I am a bit odd, and plan on staying this way!
However, it can be dissolved.
Thanks. You have my permission to use the Bytes however you get value from them — as long as you sign the liability waiver :)
It's easier now that the Bytes are in one group. I still have to "articlize" the earlier ones that were posted simply as images.
Many happy memories as a boy when we visited - and SLEPT on the train coming from New York!
It is a fact that the more time we put between when something is done and when we try and recall it, the accuracy of the memory is diminished.
Why not just read a good book?
(Bytes are slippery, multi-headed little devils.)
Second, what you say or see in the Byte is true and not the only truth in the Byte.
Sometimes it depends on how you define a term. Other times it's just a question of where you are standing at the moment.
*sniff, sniff*
Now, kick everybody else off this thread so that the two of us might be alone together and really value this very speeeecial moment
John?
John?
Wherefore art thou, John?
Wilt thou misseth the specialness of this moment, John?
of the way we were.
A Ten for making me think about it. And I gotta go with the memory side of the equation.
Not disagreeing, just musing.
Very intiguing thought, BTW
Muse away.
Now, as long as we don't get loopy ...
Beaker, now that's a statement well worth pondering.
In what ways is it true for you, in what ways isn't it true for you?
That would be the full equation.
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For some people reading a book may indeed be a review of their life, for others it maybe a way to forget those memories that don't diminish.
Like one year when my husband had cancer and stayed in the hospital about seven months out of that year. Those were dark days. But a few months before he was diagnosed with cancer we had taken a second honeymoon. On my darkest days the memory of those beautiful golden days helped me hold on.
Not that that matters ... at the moment.