30 Days of Gratitude Challenge - Day 8

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Happy day! I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Today we are focusing on memories! We all have memories we hold near and dear. It could be a childhood holiday, time spent with a grandparent, a cherished vacation, a sporting triumph.

Take a moment and fully submerge yourself in this memory.  (Think of Harry Potter using Dumbledore's penseive. Just don't put your head in a bowl of water, please.)

What emotions are you experiencing? Are there any aromas? How does your body feel?

Take a moment to write the memory and any feelings you have. Add this slip to your gratitude jar or write directly in your journal.

If you are participating but do not want to share publicly, you could simply write "Joy" or "Done" as a comment.

[SKL]

Haha, most of the memories that come to mind aren't that happy.  😛

OK I will go back to my first trip outside of North America, which was to India.  We toured many cities from Delhi and Agra to Kanyakumari (southern tip).  Much of the travel was done by car, back when the roads were not very modern (back in the 1990s).  It was definitely a multisensory experience, and it remains my favorite world travel memory.  Although not all the contrasts in India are good, I still came away with a feeling of euphoria which lasted a long time.  One of the best parts was visiting an orphanage and a school that we support.  Among other things, we ate a meal with the children, sitting on the floor.  It's just impossible to describe the feeling to those who have not experienced it themselves.

This is something I really wish everyone could experience.

[DreamerGirl]

Smell for me is very much memory. 

The smell of my family kitchen

Rain on parched ground.

Jasmine

The way the air smells  after a good rain shower when all the pollution is cleared away

Barbecue

Wood fires

My children

The Ocean

Street food wherever we travel

Open air markets

[Melissa Louise]

I honestly don't have sensorily experienced memories, which I think is related to my inability to visualize. 

So I don't 'feel' happy memories, so much as know they took place. 

One of the times I know I was v happy was when I started my psych degree. I was reading about neurons and got so thrilled I hugged my textbook 🙂

I really wish happy memories evoked happy emotions in the present for me. I think that ability must be very helpful to people in terms of generating positive feelings. 

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

4 hours ago, SKL said:

Haha, most of the memories that come to mind aren't that happy.  😛

OK I will go back to my first trip outside of North America, which was to India.  We toured many cities from Delhi and Agra to Kanyakumari (southern tip).  Much of the travel was done by car, back when the roads were not very modern (back in the 1990s).  It was definitely a multisensory experience, and it remains my favorite world travel memory.  Although not all the contrasts in India are good, I still came away with a feeling of euphoria which lasted a long time.  One of the best parts was visiting an orphanage and a school that we support.  Among other things, we ate a meal with the children, sitting on the floor.  It's just impossible to describe the feeling to those who have not experienced it themselves.

This is something I really wish everyone could experience.

I knew this one would be tough.  Sending big hugs to you.

I do love the memory you shared, though. Visiting India is on my bucket list so I envy you.
I have never traveled outside of the US and long to see a new part of the world.  Your experience is one I would cherish.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

4 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

I honestly don't have sensorily experienced memories, which I think is related to my inability to visualize. 

So I don't 'feel' happy memories, so much as know they took place. 

One of the times I know I was v happy was when I started my psych degree. I was reading about neurons and got so thrilled I hugged my textbook 🙂

I really wish happy memories evoked happy emotions in the present for me. I think that ability must be very helpful to people in terms of generating positive feelings. 

 

I love this! I, too, loved learning about neurons. Biopsych(I went to school before neuroscience was so widespread) was my favorite psychology course. 

I wish you had sensory experiences also. At least the good ones. The negative sensations are better to be forgotten.

[Melissa Louise]

Just now, Granny_Weatherwax said:

I love this! I, too, loved learning about neurons. Biopsych(I went to school before neuroscience was so widespread) was my favorite psychology course. 

I wish you had sensory experiences also. At least the good ones. The negative sensations are better to be forgotten.

Biopsych was the best! 

 

[mom31257]

I always wish I had as many memories as my sisters have, but I tend to focus strongly on something and tune out what is going on around me. I think I also tuned out some of the bad stuff happening. In spite of that, I do have some memories and recollections of things that mean a lot to me.

I must definitely have the sensory ability because I bought a bottle of shampoo that was a brand I always used at my grandmother's house, and it smelled just like it did then. I have used it sparingly just to wash my hair sometimes and think about her and her home. 

I would like to choose a childhood memory because my mom has passed and because things weren't always great in our home. I like remembering the good times since my parents had a very volatile relationship. They definitely mellowed with age, and when my mom was very sick, my dad said he was glad to be able to take care of her because she always took care of him. They were married 53.5 years when she died. He has something she put on the table beside his living room chair that he hasn't moved since the last time she was in the house in 2013.  Crying here! 

My childhood vacations are good memories because my parents always seemed to get along and be happiest away from home and the stress of life. One summer when I was about 8 we went to the outer banks of North Carolina. We rented a house called the Yellow Bird on Topsail Island. I remember we had a fish fry with the neighboring families. Daddy and my older sister (6 years older) caught the fish. Mother had such fun preparing the food with the other moms. My younger sister and I collected seashells and went door to door selling them for coins, but we lost the coin purse on our last day there.  It was a great week. I wish I could be there again and live a lifetime all over again with my mom. I miss her so very much! 

[mom31257]

@SKL, that sounds like an amazing experience! 

@DreamerGirl, smells are such a trigger for me. I walked into my high school one day about 20 years after graduating, and they were serving pizza that day. The smell was identical to when I was in school. It was great! 

@Melissa Louise, are you able to generate positive feelings in other ways?

Edited November 8, 2021 by mom31257

[Granny_Weatherwax]

 My gratitude memory is when I surprised DS with a scouting trip to Northern Tier for Okpik, the winter adventure. We met up with a troop coming from Southern Ohio who graciously allowed us to join in when they had a last minute opening.

We slept under the stars on the ice and made it through sub zero temperatures to earn the Polar Bear Award. The sound of the ice forming at night was terrifying. The sheets would crack and roll like thunder; in the dark of night it was as if the world was breaking apart. 

The second night on the lake, the boys built a small igloo. They were going to take turns to sleep in it. About three hours after bedtime, I heard a terrific clatter and sprang out of my bedroll and took off running across the frozen lake toward the igloo, screaming "I'm coming. Hold on." I was going to save them no matter what. When I was about 25 feet away, the boys stuck out their heads to see what the matter was. The igloo was intact and the boys had been sound asleep; they awoke to my yelling. I have no idea what created the noise but I learned a lot about myself that night: I will run toward danger in order to save someone no matter how afraid I am. I had purposely built my leanto on the edge of the lake, as close to the shore as I could get. I was afraid of the ice but, when I thought those boys needed me, it didn't matter, I just ran toward them.

The time spent with the boys and their fathers was humbling. Watching my son interact with complete strangers and use his scouting skills to show younger scouts how to do things was inspiring. It was the first time I was able to see him as a scout, a maturing young man. 

The sensations I recall are the sounds of crisp snow crunching underfoot, the rasping of the sled across the ice, the thunderous booms of the ice forming, the sound of water boiling, of bacon frying. The sight of millions of stars as I lay in my sleeping bag roll trying not to think of freezing to death. The warmth of the campground buildings after we returned and the feel of hot water on my dreadlocked hair. The taste of gluten free pizza made especially for me by the cooks.

It is a wonderful memory and I treasure it.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Granny_Weatherwax

[Melissa Louise]

18 minutes ago, mom31257 said:

@SKL

@DreamerGirl

@Melissa Louise, are you able to generate positive feelings in other ways?

Thankfully yes, mostly through yoga. Sometimes photographs. 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Here's my tent - two tarps and a rope, I used my sled to block the wind coming off the lake.

[Hannah]

My sister has an amazing memory for the minutiae of our childhood experiences. She'll recall a memory starting with the pattern and colour of the carpets in so-and-so's house and how it smelt when she walked into the door, and on and on.

Recently she reminded another sister and I of us playing outside in our back garden under the avocado tree and her vivid descriptions brought it all back to me.  Little girls in frilly bikinis playing with a hose-pipe in a blow-up pool on a very hot summer's day.   Our Mom bringing out the watermelon on a tray. Happy days of innocent youth.

[mom31257]

@Granny_Weatherwax, you are an amazing parent to do that trip! What a wonderful memory for you and your ds to share together. 

@Hannah, such a nice memory! Both my sisters have better memories than I do, and I love when they share those with me.