We’re so busy trying to capture the perfect picture or rushing from landmark to landmark that we miss the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower. The authors of the USC study say that we “forget Paris,” and perhaps it’s because we weren’t really “in” Paris. We’re often so busy (or, busy Instagramming) that we forget to actually live them in the moment. How can you hold tighter to your fleeting memories? Here, a few suggestions: 1. I believe that: When we have guests over and I pull out our cheeseboard from Israel, I relish the opportunity to talk about how we haggled in a Tel Aviv street market to buy the memento.īut say you’re off creating a memory without a gift store in sight-or you’re not looking to fill your home with tiny knick knacks. How to Savor the PastĪccording to the USC study, purchasing and keeping a physical souvenir from a trip made people more likely to talk and think about a past experience. They’re the ones that are with you forever, but present with you rarely ever. Summiting a mountain, getting accepted into college, holding your baby for the first time- those moments. But there’s value in more regularly connecting with the good moments-and the essence of those moments-that we thought we’d remember forever. So, how important is it for us to revisit our memories? Dwelling on the past can take away from the present, so we don’t want to constantly live in our memories. There’s value in more regularly connecting with the good times. When we’re distracted by what’s happening around us, there’s not a lot of space left for nostalgia. “Past experiences become less top-of-mind over time, and, as a result, people simply forget to remember,” Stephanie Tully, assistant professor of marketing at USC Marshall and a co-author of the study, told USC News. Happy Memories, Unfortunately, Fade FastĪ new study out of the USC Marshall School of Business shows that we tend to overestimate how often we’ll revisit a happy memory-and the daily distractions of life make us forget to remember. That simple memory reinvigorated me-it was pure joy.īut it got me thinking: Why don’t I spend more time with my happy memories from camp? Why, if it brings me so much pleasure, don’t I appreciate my past more often? The truth: We aren’t really wired to naturally recall happy memories. It was as if the stresses of everyday life melted away and I was a 13-year-old camper again in Bunk Juniper. I could hear us belting out the songs from Rent and picture us having grilled cheese eating contests. I could smell the roasting marshmallows and hear the crackling pine needles. It had been years since I last heard the song, but it immediately took me away from the beach and back to camp. Ī few weekends back, I was at the beach with one of my lifelong best friends.ĭuring lunch, her 3-year-old daughter broke into song, “We welcome you to Timber Tops, we’re mighty glad you’re here…” A huge smile spread across my face as she continued singing-it was the same song that welcomed her mom and me to summer camp decades ago. This piece originally appeared on Shine's blog.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |