Nothing is ever forgotten

In Doctor Who (the only show I bother to watch right now, though that’s changing because I’m going to make an effort to watch Futurama and Fringe as per James’s suggestion/demanding XD), the notion of forgetting and the notion of memories and such memories being lost or nonexistent in parallel worlds, is explored or used as a plot line. One quote from the Doctor is that “nothing is ever forgotten”.

I began to ponder this phrase, thinking about the little things that I feel like I forget. Over the course of a day, there are small, minute things that I forget. I am willing to admit that these are often things to do with cleaning the house, or putting something away. Really small things like cleaning under a table or finding some plastic bags or taking out the trash… um.

I get this horrible feeling when I remember that I have forgotten something. It’s a bit like, “oh no, oh shit, I forgot this…” I don’t think that I really forget things, because there is always something that makes me remember it. I think that most of the time we are reminded. Even if the thing that is forgotten is no longer important or we remember far too late, it must have been tucked in the back of our minds somewhere.

There are random times when I remember something from my past, just like that. There are times when I listen to a song and suddenly remember something that happened while I was listening to that song many years ago. A lot of things have a story. When you see something that you own – a phone, for example – you might recall the day you first got that phone, the days you spent on it playing Bejeweled, the text messages you received, the times you dropped it, the times it rang while you were asleep, the times it woke you up with its alarm.

There are times I’m talking to a friend, and my friend might say, “oh my god do you remember when…”

The hell I do. Most of the time they mention one of the most hilarious moments we’ve ever shared. Or it’s an embarrassing moment I don’t want to think about anymore, but we both laugh it off anyway. Sometimes it’s a moment that made us angry and pissed off, but looking back, it was very funny.

I had a fight with my mum last night, ugh. It involved a lot of screaming, swearing and hitting. I never like to elaborate on these things. But the first person I turned to was James. Even though he wasn’t physically with me, even though I wished he was there to cheer me up, I contacted him anyway. He’s my best friend. And at this point, I had a story to tell – a sad one at that, but a story all the same. Every day, I have a story to tell him. And I notice every day, he has a story to tell me.

Is it not every time you meet someone you ask how they’re doing, what’s going on, what they’re up to… and most of the time, they have an answer? One of my teachers told me once: Everyone has a story. Everyone has something to say. All those things we think are forgotten but that we sometimes remember – are stories. Little things we forget then remember, like our first kiss, that fight we had with our best friend, that time we cried when we were younger, that time we were scarred forever, that time we failed something we tried so hard at, that time we did something we never thought we’d ever do. Every little moment is a story.

Every person is made up of stories.

We’re all stories in the end.

Comments on this post

WUGS

/bounce you must watch Frunge. /awb

Yes, we’re all stories in the end. :3 but stories are good to share.. :) *huggu*

I guess in the end, you’re not much more than the impression you left behind. And everything you do shapes a little bit of that impression every day. Quite nice to think of it that way, in my opinion. /eee

(Y)

I completely agree with you. Everyone does have a story, and everyone is going through something. One of my teachers said something similar, that you never know the stories and battles people are fighting so you should always try to be open and understanding while dealing with people. Easier said than done, but my teacher in high school never made me forgot that.

I’m sorry to hear you had an argument with your Mom. I do hope you guys smooth things out. There’s nothing worse than fighting with those you love. I can remember having some known down drag out fights with my Mom and I still remember certain things I said and they can make me upset after so many years.

I am in a towel. I just got out of the shower, went to my laptop to check the weather for the rest of the day, and ended up reading your blog. And what a beautiful blog it was. /love I especially liked the last line. I jumped up and down. xD Aren’t you glad I understand these references now?

I think the hardest thing about everyone having a story to tell is finding time to listen to their stories. How many times has someone asked, “What’s up?” and I reply, “Nothing”, or, “Not much”, when really there’s a world of sadness, pain, joy, excitement going on inside? I think the fast-paced lives we lead in modern society can really force us to be selfish and uncaring. I know I would love to take a moment to stop and listen to people’s stories. I wish I had the time to stop and have a conversation every time I passed a friend in the hall. What’s the point of stories if we can’t share them with anyone?

We’re all stories in the end, and all stories deserve to be shared. ♥

I think it is true to some extent that nothing is ever forgotten. Personally I don’t recall a lot of my childhood memories but since someone else does it indirectly means that it was not forgotten.

I think we tend to forget things consciously but theories make me believe that every single detail of our life is stored somewhere within our brain…it is just difficult to recall it to our conscious self.

I guess there are certain triggers which can help you recall a memory. That’s why there are tricks to help you remember stuff, mnemonics being my personal favorite XD.

I have those days when I remember something funny and then can’t stop smiling and the rest of the world thinks that I am crazy or something lol.

I agree that we all have stories to tell…our life like you said is a big story by itself made up of smaller chapters. Some are happy moments, some sad but without the variety it would be a boring novel right ;)

Hi Georgina! I’ve always wanted to watch Futurama. If you check it out please tell me if it’s good :D

I really liked this post. It got me thinking (and that’s quite a feat when I’m outside of school :P) I’m only a Junior in High School, and I’m only 16, but I feel like I’ve been alive for such a long time. I know that sounds silly, stupid even, but when I look back on my memories I feel like they happened such a long, long time ago! I’ve forgotten many details. I’ll remember having a fight with a friend but not knowing why I was so mad at her (which makes me feel like a jerk, haha), or that time when I ate at a raw onion just to prove to my parents that I could, and uh . . . I don’t really know where I’m going with this. Hehehe, anyway ~

I know I’m just a kid, but I’ve had the whole fighting with my mom experience numerous times. And not the silly teenager “you don’t understand” crap, but the serious crying, swearing, physical kinds. We’re working on the relationship, which is hard to do when my mother believes she is right all the time and my dad refuses to do anything about it since they’re divorced. Ah, parents :) Just wanted to let you know that I at least kinda know where you’re coming from.

Gorgeous layout, by the way! It’s so simple yet you know how to make it work!! It’s very elegant. I adore your ‘I Love’ project. I would love to participate. I’ll get back to you on that one ;)

When I look at my phone I will NEVER forget all the mornings it woke me up at 5.30AM. I have a phobia of my phone’s alarm.
This blog post reminds me of Jeanette Winterson’s novel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit. If you’ve never heard of it before, it’s a bildungsroman and explores the notion of storytelling and the ability of the storyteller to tell the story in such a way that it matches his or her agenda and motives. So I guess while we all have memories and we look back and talk about them, our versions will be different from others because of what we think is right or wrong. I’m doing that novel for Literature. It’s interesting though I would have loved it more if it wasn’t for an exam.

I’m afraid of forgetting things, but I suppose you’re right – we don’t really forget things but simply get reminded of them.

Everyone one does indeed have a story to tell but its a pity we (collectively) are unable to convey our speech, our life (or at least the key fragments) etc, simply because we lack eloquence or similar factors which hinder our message. (Political correctness =.=)
Also, it’s a matter of whether our not the story has a particular strong emotion or belief or significance; these are interpreted and evaluated. For example; I myself value the underlying plots/emotions, in sense what I believe to be the essence of stories such as myths, legends, fables, Aesopica, allegories, novels, comics … (cumulative listing much so I better stop). Regardless of my views, there are obviously some which reply with sardonic comments and deem some media as childish garbage or dismiss them as fairy tales (hence eventually forgotten). Rather narrow minded; “Even Illustrated Books without sentences are good” – Lewis Carroll
For mine, I don’t believe its a pity we view things differently, non uniformly but I do find it tragic that some parts of relative significance may be lost or disregarded.
Whimsically amused now 💥 💥 💥 💥 💥 💥

I agree that every person has their own stories, and those stories are usually worth sharing. :) Other people might not really care about the stories of your life (maybe because they have their own stories, and dramas, perhaps), but there is no doubt that we can learn a thing or two on your stories. :)
(Y)

Oh my. I just hope you’re okay with your mum now.

Good thing, you have your bestfriend who’s willing to comfort and listen to you /eee

:love:
Hey Georgina! :) Hope you’re doing well! :> Returning your response on my last post :)

“When I was younger I wanted to be a dancer or a vet or, dun dun dun, a geologist.” – That is a great dream/ambition you know. I don’t know if kids nowadays ever thought of being a geologist. I, myself, even thought of being an Archaeologist once without even having the slight idea of what was one is doing, all I ever wanted was to go to the Stonehenge if I ever get to be an Archaeologist, don’t even know if that’s relevant. HAHA. :)

Anyway, yeah, nothing is ever forgotten. Some things are just piled up in our memory, making the old ones a history, and gathered under the archive, but it doesn’t mean it’s erased or forever gone. There are times that i don’t remember anything at all. But once it’s brought up, it’s like it happened a few minutes ago. It’s just there. :)

This post was a bit touching to me.

Nothing is ever forgetting and everyones does indeed have a story.

All the time now I find myself thinking about the little things. All the little things I took for granted. All the little things that have changed over the course of time.

I think about the days when my grandmother was around, even the day when she died. I think about when I met the love of my life, when my sister was born, when I started my first day of high school just it all seems surreal. They all seem like they happened just yesterday and it makes me ask myself, where did the time go?

Every person is made up of a story.Your never know what a person is going through and has been through just by looking at them. A person can have the BIGGEST smile on their face but be hurting deep down inside while a person can also have a frown on their face and the biggest future ahead of them. You just never know unless they tell you.

–

Thanks for you condolences. No, I wasn’t bawling my eyes out crying. I personally think I took the whole situation better than I always imagined. I’m not really sad or feeling all down and out although I do have my moments. I do miss her dearly though.

James has good taste. (Y) Futurama and Fringe are really good! I’ve watched them, not fully though. I have a lot of good shows that I want to see, but haven’t gotten the chance to watch. Doctor Who is one of them! Everyone keeps raving about it, so I felt like I should at least check it out.

I tend to hold memories close to my heart. Forgetting is a really scary concept for me, especially if that thing was once your whole life. To forget so easily something that used to be so important to you… But maybe if it was really important, you wouldn’t have forgotten? I don’t know. I’m having a hard time writing this. The words don’t feel right.

It’s very easy to forget, but I always try to remember that every person has a story. And after I come to that realisation, I always seem to understand the other person a little bit better.

♥

Hi, this is the first time I comment 😳 .

My friends love to tell our old stories, especially the embarrassing ones that can make me blush all day long remembering that. But it’s still good to hear and remember our old stories, so we can also recall our mistakes and try to fix ourselves.

Yeah, often times I have the feeling like, “Shouldn’t I bring something important today?” or “I guess I forgot something…” and usually they are true. Just like today, I remembered that I was supposed to bring equipments for our drama but I totally forgot them. The brain always works in mysterious ways, that’s what my teacher said :D .

Argh, the last line did it for me. asdkljaslkdjaldkjalkdja

Ahem, anyway yeah, I believe nothing is ever forgotten either. Our brain are really magnificent things. Probably not even the most advanced computers in the planet come close to the power that is our minds. I remember reading an article (tried to find it, failed) that compared our minds with a hard drive. Everything we learn, everything we see, or hear, or even touch, every single thing we experience in our lives is stored in our brains, just like a hard drive can. So we can say that yes, nothing is ever forgotten.

The article continued saying that forgetting things, or the illusion of it, is just our brains not being able to process through all the information stored in it quickly enough, and that’s probably one reason why older people seem to forget things at time – they just got so many experiences that trying to find the right takes a while.

“We’re all stories in the end.” askdjlasjdlakjdlaskj

I’ve heard stories that say that we are all threads in one big tapestry that is the world. We have our stories, and then our stories go together to form the world’s one big story. And within our stories, there are lots of mini-stories, like the animes that flashback to a character’s past.

I sometimes wonder that if a God does exist, then is He collecting our stories and filing them away, archived forever for all the heavens to see. And then one day when the sun blows up the Earth, will he tell all the extraterrestrial life out there the absolutely EPIC story of the Earth? I would be very amused if that happened. Or I just like thinking that we’re all a part of something grand and epic and that if there is an afterlife, we will all love our parts.