Forget -Me- Not

Memories can be all the sweeter if we slow down and appreciate the moment... Anisha explains this can help with studying too.

​If you´ve been up to date on my push blogs, you´ll notice the theme of slowness and attention pops up a lot. In this blog, I ́ll be talking about how this approach of dropping the tempo of the rushed and goal oriented attitude can both help improve our memory in useful day-to-day things such as studying, and how we approach remembering history collectively. 
 
We often remember things that we feel a connection with. This usually means spending time with that thing, experience or person. As individuals, we can develop a fondness of something which reoccurs or is repeated within our daily lives. It's easy, for example, to grow attached to the innocent smoothies you used to drink every Friday lunch, or to feel nostalgic in remembering the way a friend braided your hair. This is because we can recall the context of these regularly occurring settings (it could be at school, dance class or weekend trips to the park). Having an overarching understanding of why these objects stand out a little in your life usually comes about because you interact with them so frequently. Your mind is able to ground and root itself into that memory. 
 
When approaching things like study skills and revision then, it is important to keep this in mind (grounding yourself in the memorable moment that is you reading this blog!).
 
Methods such as using flashcards, drawing diagrams and even going through notes can all be super helpful… as long as this content is being reviewed regularly. It's easy to see now how the concept of slowness and taking time over something helps our mind remember. It may often feel like a gruelling drag, but in the long run, allowing yourself the time to go over material does help strengthen that cerebral cortex (basically a fancy, neuro-scientific word for where long term memory is stored in the brain). This is why methods such as active recall, where you are constantly drawing out a piece of information to be used in practice, works so well. In an age where we are able to constantly summon bits and bobs from the ether of google or Chat GBT, using our cognitive ‘thinking caps’ is crucial for building muscle memory. 
 
Other times, we seem to remember things if they are really, really wacky. All the best school mornings started off with an ‘omg you´ll never guess what happened…´ and it turns out somebody's dad's cousin met Eminiem by tripping over on his bright pink bicycle. This essentially seems to contradict the type of regular, monotonous memory which builds gradually over time.
Associating something you want to remember, such as a name or piece of vocabulary, with something vaguely connected is another way of joining the dots between one thing and the next. This isn’t to say that the connection has to be irrelevant, far from it, rather, picking something peculiar and specific that comes to mind acts as a different way for the brain to trace its neurological roots back to the origin.
For example, I remember the Spanish word ‘mancha’ to mean blanket because it sounded a little like mantis, which (as one does) cast me back to Kung Fu Panda’s praying mantis. So essentially, now, I associate master mantis with a blanket. Moral of the story? Don’t disregard the funny little serendipitous moments of magic that your brain makes!
 
As well as observing and adapting how memory is shaped by our learning habits in study skills, it is also important to note how we remember legacies, events and figures of the past through our collective remembering of them. Most of our national or bank holidays come to be through commemorating something from the past.
 
Festivities regularly observed (and other, personal moments like birthdays, anniversaries etc…) thereby function in a similar way to active recall. In remembering them, we can keep that moment, that message, or that small part of history alive. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is Guy Fawkes Night, Remember, remember the 5th of November, (and then the bits which, ironically, nobody really remembers) gunpowder, treason and plot; for there is a reason why gunpowder and treason should never be forgot!´. Festivals and figures from the past all over the world are observed annually, and although their significance and meaning may change over time, they give us a chance to rethink what our relationship with that part of the past is. 
 
Hopefully this blog has helped you recentre your approach to study skills, highlighted the importance of taking time to connect with moments you want to remember and allowed you to question how we all individually contribute to a wider, world memory. Who knows, maybe the peculiar cocktail of a blanket as a praying mantis and a Guy Fawkes rhyme all in one blog will make it all easier to remember!
 
Read of the Month 
 
Orientalism by Edward Said
 
Wow this section seems to be getting rouge, we’ve had graphic novels, autobiographies and short stories, now adding a hefty bit of critical theory! Said’s Orientalism, however, isn’t all as intimidating as it seems. Published in 1898, this piece of work became critical to postcolonial studies and explores the detrimental influence of the Western gaze. I´d encourage anybody to dip into a few sections, as Said presents the power in how the orient or ´other´ is shaped through society's collective memory. 

Author

Anisha Minocha is studying English and Spanish at the University of St Andrews, currently living in Andalucía. She is a writer and poet whose work has been showcased in winning competitions, readings and anthologies. She co-edits SINK Magazine, which gives a platform to Northern creatives, and founded the "Roots"" project with Friends of the Earth that looks at the intersections between South Asian identity and ecology. Twitter: @anisha_jaya

​Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash