We don’t think about it, but every day we wake up remembering a routine that we need to follow to start the day on a relatively sane note. We call that remembrance a habit, but the very word habit has negative connotations. I don’t need to think about whether I am going to have coffee or tea because I have learned that black coffee is the taste that rocks my soul before anything else is remembered in the morning. The aroma, flavor, and sight of that beautiful dark brown elixir triggers memories of other things that happened while coffee drinking: That Denny’s in Moline, IA where my daughter and I caught up on things while she was in college… that first trip to my son’s house after the birth of his son… those deep soul searching conversations with my wife. None of these were planned to make memories, but they did.
A recent article spoke about the value of smells and aromas in remembrance. College students are told that if they have a particular flavor of Lifesaver or other candy in their mouth while studying they will have better recall by popping the same flavor in their mouth during an exam. I firmly believe that to be true. The aroma of lavender is supposed to be a sleep aid, but some people say that anything will work as long as it is poked deeply enough into memory and sticks there. There is probably a certain amount of psychological trickery going on to force a belief that certain tastes or smells actually do anything, but the placebo effect is a proven scientific fact.
If we can use psychology to trick our minds into believing something magical can happen, why not focus consciously on making memories? Left up to chance we may drift through events that may slip out of the range of consciousness never to return. Instead, how about a plan to make memories every day? After that first cup of coffee:
- I am going to touch a stranger’s life in a special way today. I will call the check-out person by name from her name tag [which she doesn’t remember that she is wearing] and make her smile.
- I am going to change someone’s frown to a smile today. I just may be the catalyst to turn someone’s memory of this day from horrible to happy.
- I am going to let a friend remember that I have his back and that he always has me to count on. There may be other friends, but I will let him know that at least one person cares.
- I am going to tell someone that I truly love them today. She probably already knows intuitively that it is true, but it should never be taken for granted.
What memories are you going to make today… tomorrow… the next day?
