To forget is human. Nowadays, we're bombarded with information, we're overworked, we geek out on the minutiae of chemical processes in our brains and guts never even imagined a century ago. We forget to eat, to sleep, to take medications, to bathe--to take care of ourselves. Formerly, every community had a "remembrancer," whose job was to be the repository of collective knowledge and information, history, explanations. And people remembered to take care of their own basic needs. Nowadays, we all try to remember everything about everything, and forget routine maintenance. Or, I guess some people use their iPhones as remembrancers! Around here, I'm the phone directory--no iPhones in sight!
With the end of semester dash, I've been confining my posts to the prompts and not talking about much else--tomorrow is a "free day," so I'll share some more personal or recipe stuff then. But today's prompt is about forgetting and remembering, inspired by the Singapore-based blog Things We Forget, which features sticky notes placed in public places, conveying positive messages.
I do have sticky notes around the place--one from my Naturopath reminding me to take my meds--I'm not quite brave enough to post that one here...Goal-setting notes, writerly advice, notes from other writers... But yesterday, Phil was walking around with a wonderful positive message on his own person:
I'll give the close-up of the message in a moment, but let me just dwell on the messenger for a moment. Our friend David sent Phil this shirt, saying that it was obviously meant for Phil. Phil is so giving, so upbeat, so focused on the positive and how to turn any situation, however tangentially he's involved in it, toward the positive.
I know my current trajectory has not been joyous for Phil. I've been able to spend less time with him. I've been under a lot of stress, and have had more psychotic moments than anyone would choose. Since we live together, he's most likely to end up in the firing line at those times. He doesn't believe I have the superpowers I believe I have, so we're inhabiting different universes in that respect. He thinks my current situation is more worrisome than I do--I think it's just some local difficulty. Have I been forgetting about Phil? Is this note on his shirt not just a reminder about joy and its passage, but also a reminder to value, cherish, treasure the wonderful human being underneath?
And it all goes back to the 'sticky note' I've featured on here several times before--
This note is right in my space, pinned to the frame between two windows. Of course, I often look through the windows rather than at that in-between space. Sometimes I look straight through the note too, with a feeling of hopelessness. But it's always worth asking.
One other message worth reiterating,
THIS TOO
SHALL PASS
Sorry I can't do any better with the graphic/background! But whatever we're enmeshed in, no matter how stuck we feel, motion and change are the constants. A question worth asking is whether we're willing to drive the change or prefer to be driven by the inexorable current.
What would YOUR best reminder be?
