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We all have thousand upon thousands of memories. Some research suggests that our memory is ‘total’, meaning that every experience we have ever had is stored in our heads somewhere. So when somebody says they have a good memory or a bad one, perhaps what they mean is they’re good or bad at recalling their memories…

In 1950 a neurosurgeon called Wilder Penfield showed that memories can be recalled by touching parts of the brain with a low voltage electronic probe. Interestingly, not only was the memory recalled, but the memory was also ‘re-lived’. The original emotions were felt, and the same interpretations – or meaning – were briefly experienced. This demonstrates that the meaning of a given experience in your life is stored alongside the memory of that experience.

This is important because events that happen in your life now also stimulate memories in the same way as that electronic probe. An obvious example of this is hearing a long-forgotten song that transports you back to childhood. Or smelling something like disinfectant that reminds you of some time spent in hospital. The brain is matching current experiences with stored experience – and it does this for a reason.

If you walked past a garden gate and were startled by a rabid (looking!) dog, then the following day you would walk a little more carefully past the same spot. Similarly, if you went on a first date with a person and really enjoyed the experience, you would probably be motivated to arrange another. The brain matches experiences – experiences that are actually happening or experiences that it is anticipating – with those experiences (memories; your past) stored in the mind so it can guide us away from pain or steer us towards pleasure.

And, just as the emotional meaning of those memories were re-lived when stimulated into being by a surgeon’s electronic probe, the meaning of old memories are re-lived when stimulated by current events.

Now, if all of your memories are pleasant, then you’re probably living a happy and balanced life. However it seems to me that very few people escape from childhood unscathed – some of our memories are naturally very painful or difficult, and therefore the meaning we attach to some of those memories can be very negative indeed. It is through the meaning we place on those events (our past, in other words) that positive or negative beliefs form – beliefs about ourselves and about the world.

These beliefs can profoundly affect our emotions and behaviours…

In my next post, I’ll be discussing how these memories of the past cause significant beliefs and behaviours in the present…

Warm regards,

Adrian
www.lastingchange.co.uk