“But all in all, books contain more truth than other people’s memories of themselves, which are constantly revised to suit their current image of themselves.”
Ciaran Carson
It is the last part of this quote that connected with me. I am not sure that the words are trying to say that books hold the truth (plenty of stuff has been written and printed that is wrong and/or repulsive); rather I think they might be saying that books are more steadfast and more consistent in that their words don't change over time.
Which I guess is in contrast to all of us, who do change over time.
I listen to podcasts a lot and one of the things I have been struck by in one of them is this notion that we can sometimes think or assume that we have always been as open minded, considerate, supportive of difference and the like as we are now. When in fact, if we are honest and reflect back, I am sure there are times where we were less than supportive of difference, said things that hurt unintentionally and made jokes about stuff that is wrong; simply because we didn't know or understand things as we do now.
So I think the quote is trying to say that our memories and images of ourselves in the past, can be a bit out of focus as we may have revised them by thinking that we have always been this way...
It's an interesting thought to ponder...and probably a long way from Books which is where I began, but there you go!
I know for me, I am a whole lot better at understanding things LGBTQI now as an adult than I did as a teenager and young adult. I am sure there are times I was hurtful which horrifies me in hindsight.
Ciaran Carson
It is the last part of this quote that connected with me. I am not sure that the words are trying to say that books hold the truth (plenty of stuff has been written and printed that is wrong and/or repulsive); rather I think they might be saying that books are more steadfast and more consistent in that their words don't change over time.
Which I guess is in contrast to all of us, who do change over time.
I listen to podcasts a lot and one of the things I have been struck by in one of them is this notion that we can sometimes think or assume that we have always been as open minded, considerate, supportive of difference and the like as we are now. When in fact, if we are honest and reflect back, I am sure there are times where we were less than supportive of difference, said things that hurt unintentionally and made jokes about stuff that is wrong; simply because we didn't know or understand things as we do now.
So I think the quote is trying to say that our memories and images of ourselves in the past, can be a bit out of focus as we may have revised them by thinking that we have always been this way...
It's an interesting thought to ponder...and probably a long way from Books which is where I began, but there you go!
I know for me, I am a whole lot better at understanding things LGBTQI now as an adult than I did as a teenager and young adult. I am sure there are times I was hurtful which horrifies me in hindsight.
Hmmm ... re-reading a journal (book) I wrote in high school was instructive. It holds truth from that time in my life, some of it distinctly different from what I’d prefer to think of myself and therefore discomfitting. There is much wisdom in this Thursday thought. Thank you ...
ReplyDeleteSo interesting Liz - I imagine if I read a high school diary I would feel exactly the same; my truth at the time; but hopefully a better me has emerged...go well.
Deletefrom “Notebooks of the Mind: Explorations of Thinking” by Vera John-Steiner;
ReplyDelete“… the English poet Stephen Spender, who captured this beautifully: “Memory is not exactly memory. It is more like a prong, upon which a calendar of similar experiences happening throughout the years, collect. A memory once clearly stated ceases to be a memory, it becomes perpetually present, because every time we experience something which recalls it, the clear and lucid original experience imposes its formal beauty on the new experiences. It is thus no longer memory but an experience lived through again and again.”
via Brain Pickings a few years ago
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/02/notebooks-of-the-mind-memory-creativity/
oh my Mo - I do love people who think and write about thinking...it is fascinating. And memory too - it is such a fleeting concept and this is a lovely and visual way to imagine how it operates. Thanks so much! Go well.
DeleteCan you believe how things have changed? I remember when two gay guys bought the house across the street from us in the nineties. I thought..eww. They were tres gay (so different from the consciousness of my upbringing), but really nice people all the same. This was the height of the HIV crisis and I saw them gathering to mourn their friends and felt sad...and connected. It was the start of my turn and opening. People come in so many forms, but we are all related.
ReplyDeleteThings and ourselves I think Dana. I like that we can look back and realise we have learnt and our humanity has been enhanced. A poet/cartoonist here is Australia called Michael Leuning has this wee comment: there are only two emotions: love and fear..." and I think almost everything can be boiled down to that. Fear of difference...of uncertainty...of uncomfortableness... thanks and go well.
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