On what do you inscribe your memory on?

I have a friend who remembers places she has been by marking them to a song. So we would be listening to radio and she would suddenly say: “This song reminds me of a time when I was at… ”

That made me think about the objects and things around me and what triggered memories for me. I think it has got to be spaces. I associate a huge part of my memories with spaces thus I like to stick to a certain route to avoid places because of bad memories I have had. Sometimes, I do end up in the places I try to avoid and actually re-inscribe it with new memories.

Besides spaces, certain objects or colours also serve as memory markers for me. That probably explains why I am cluttered with so many things because I hang on to a lot of memories such that what my brain can no longer store I re-inscribe it to the things around me. It’s my brain’s way of data management.

I suppose the beauty of things, or what I am really amazed at, is how memories give life to dead objects. What it also means, is an object besides what it is socially defined as is also empty and its meaning is there for us to fill up with our own interpretations. So a nail clipper is what we define as it is socially but also to each and everyone of us, the nail clipper holds some other meaning too.

Ahhh… I hope you see the light.