Article: Memories

Someone started telling a story. It was a new story to me. Then he mentioned my involvement in the events and my memory began to retrieve dusty files.  I remembered. Back came images and excitement from long ago, forgotten antics and absurd behaviour. And as we recalled them up bubbled mirth, gratitude and an appetite for more.

My mind seems to focus more on the future than the past. I tend to forget the past and this may be costing me valuable recreation.

Memories can be a gift. A friend sent me a card. On the card was a photo of a place we had been together and to which we had vowed to return. Remembering lifted my mood and the elevation lasted all day.

Remembering can be recreational in many ways.

• It can restore our soul; as we enjoy once more experiences from the past.
• It renews motivation. What better spur, as we discipline ourselves through the dark damp days of winter, than the recollection of past exhilarations and the prospect of those to come.
• It refreshes our imagination. As we remember, we are inspired to conceive new adventures.
• It helps us revaluate. Gratitude replaces grumbling and once more we’re a bearable person to be with.

Remembering seems to be a choice, a discipline even. What might help us to remember? Here are some suggested aides memoires.

• Log / diary. Keeping a record of trips and activities can seem like a chore but the discipline has many benefits. It provides a resource of information to enhance future trips (e.g. freshwater spring beneath armpit shaped cliff @ head of bay). A log can also be a morale booster on the way to a particular goal of personal or professional development – “Wow, I didn’t realise I’m already half way there…” (e.g. climbing every 100m peak in Norfolk or cycling past the third tailor’s dummy on your way up the down escalator in your local department store). A log also allows one to bathe in past experiences and this in itself is recreational.
• Photos / vids. Take a camera out with you. I have a small robust one around my neck on most outings. Look over the photos in your tea breaks  months / years later. Better, do it in company. A friend and I nearly herniated ourselves laughing recently. We watched (over and over) a friend’s particularly spectacular failure to land neatly after a long drop into some water. Back came the tension followed by relief we had felt at the time.
• Reunions. I recently enjoyed being part of a review of the preceding year of fun had by a loose affiliation of mountain enthusiasts. There was Indian food, alcohol, slides, video, unpleasant smells and lots of highly enjoyable recollection.
• Stories. The worst experiences often make the best stories. I remember shivering through one historically wet and windy night in Scotland. The stove broke, so did the tent and so did our sense of humour. At times the wind was lifting us off the ground as we endured the night. Then, a challenging ordeal; now, a tremendous story. Telling a story can be highly recreational for both teller and listener. I reckon the most enjoyable stories are the montages you sit round and reconstruct together with your fellow adventurers.
• Souvenirs. I have a bird identification ring on my desk. To most it means nothing. To the BTO it was a helpful source of data. To me it’s a reminder of a highly enjoyable fortnight I spent with my family on the Outer Hebrides decades ago.
• Experiences. Obvious but neglected: The more memorable experiences we have the richer will be our deposit from which we can draw recreational memories in the future.

Let’s look back with gratitude and let’s keep getting out there to enjoy ourselves memorably.