I went and got acupuncture today, to help me recover from the weekend of heavy traveling, staying awake late, taking care of the kids with no partner (although this wasn’t too bad, as the mamihood was rocking a hard presence at this AMC and everybody was watching out for everybody elses kid) etc.
And a weird thing happened while getting poked today.
*Immediatly* after a needle went into my upper leg (in the area right under my knee cap)–*instantaneously*–a weird flash went into my brain, and I remembered that I had to email somebody.
The feeling was so forceful, that I couldn’t stop my mouth from saying “Oh, shit, I needed to email **.”
My poker lady told me, “that’s where you’ve been storing that memory!”
I laughed a little bit, because who knew that all somebody needed to do to get me to email them was rub my knees?
But I also it made me wonder where I’ve stored other memories. Like the first time I was slapped. The first time I smelled a blueberry field. The first time I touched a worm. The last time I hugged my children.
I wondered what happens when the area that stores a memory like “hugging my children” is beaten relentlessly by “husband’s fist” or “hard work” or “chronic repetition.”
Do you forget how or why you love your children? Do you forget how good it feels to get hugs? Do you forget what makes you happy? Do you get cancer?
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July 28th, 2009 at 11:03 pm #
OMG. I recently remembered my father teaching me to wash dishes…in this very sweet, gentle, and kind way, and realized that that memory had been totally beaten by a memory of a time when his parenting was not so nice, and realized that by only looking at the unhappy memory, I’m forgetting that my childhood was bad AND good, that my father was an alcoholic AND a kind, often gentle man who loved me.
and just that internal recognition, that the story i tell myself tends toward the negative and that reality was more complex, has had a positive impact on my current, adult reality. Memory is really something.
I often have really weird mental processes at acupuncture. I wonder if it’s a similar thing.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:57 am #
I’ve never thought of it this way… I’ll admit I’m not very *up* on accupuncture, but this is a really cool way to look at it!