What we remember

“Memory fades, memory adjusts, memory conforms to what we think we remember.” ~Joan Didion

When you repeat an old story at a family gathering, your parent or another relative might say, That’s not exactly how it happened.

In my memoir workshops, we spend a fair amount of time discussing how memories are altered over time. Quite often, our recollection of an event is different from someone else’s, especially if the story involves a perpetrator and a victim. This idea applies to humorous stories as well as traumatic ones.

Some of us might believe that a particular experience — or how we remember it — defines who we are. But as Joan Didion observed, memory can be tricky and subjective. What’s the emotional truth of your memories? Why do some of your memories resonate more than others? ~CL