Memory: Friend and Foe

"Memory recaptures living experience or prevents it from escaping..." (Bouanchaud, 1996, 16)

Memory can be a friend or foe, it can help or it can harm, it can facilitate or complicate. In daily life, the myriad of help that memory gives is incalculable. It is because of memory that you do not walk out into the middle of the street with cars flying by, you do not pay for your groceries with beans, and you do not sip soup fresh off the burner still boiling hot. Memory helps. As Bouanchaud interprets Sutra 1:11, memory recaptures living experience; that experience had by just being and doing and acting in the world. You learn from experience and so you follow the path that educated you the most. The world said, you will probably get hit by a car, get into trouble, or scald your mouth if you do the above; so, you learned to look both ways and wait for traffic to stop, bring paper/coin money, and wait for the soup to cool down before proceeding. Perhaps you had been hit by a car, forgetful or confused and thought you had money, or impatient and really hungry; or, perhaps someone told you about so and so who did one of these things. In either case, by lived experience or testimony, you learned from your own or someone else's experience and thanks to your memory, you saved and spared yourself.

But what about those times when you wish you would not remember, when all you seemingly want to do is forget, but instead, the memories are right there with you every step of the way. When you want to learn another language, take dancing lessons, apply for a grant or scholarship, apply for sought position, travel to another country, talk to your new classmate, teach a class you have never taught before and you "remember" that you are not good at that or good enough or not worth it or too whatever.

Through lived experience we gain valuable lessons that help us structure our daily living, as we saw above. But, we often structure our daily lives based solely on memories and nothing more; memories that were created out of fear or anger. We experience hurt, disappointment, anxiety, and we carry those experiences, those memories, with us so that we can protect ourselves from future similar experiences. Giving no credence as to the evolution of the situation or the person, we respond in the same way that we did before. We allow for no change. Like Stepford people, we respond robotically. We do the same for the happy experiences too and who could blame us. We remember how pleasant something felt and we want to experience it again. Looking at the rich, gorgeous colors of a painting, listening to the bravado of a piece of music, laughing at the most hilarious thing. We remember what it was like and we either seek to reject it and avoid it or accept it and repeat it (Sutra 2.3, 7-8).

In our struggle to avoid and repeat, we grip terribly. In the same way that we grip in our minds and stubbornly refuse to see how a situation or person has changed and to see other viewpoints, we tend to grip in our bodies with the same ferocity causing tensions unnoticeable and noticeable only when the pain has become too much to bear. We grip onto our memories for dear life because we do not want to experience unhappiness. But, unfortunately, oftentimes we use painful tactics such as remembering and re-remembering over and over in order to avoid, which by itself causes undue pain.

Take some moments to sit quietly. Scan your body. Pay attention to any parts that feel painful or tense. Maybe place a hand on the part or simply look at it if you can, or just think about it and tell yourself to let it go. Then tell yourself to REALLY let it go.

Memory is invaluable and it saves our lives and helps us sort out the yuck from the yay! but it has the nasty habit of keeping us stuck in assembly-line patterns of reacting and responding that stop us from evolving and growing and taking in life fully. Use it to remember how to calculate a tip and not to avoid doing that thing you have really been wanting to do.

Saint Valentine

from The Hours of Catherine of Cleves (facsimile) by John Plummer (1964)

SUFFRAGE

Saint Valentine

Dressed in a deacon's dalmatic (with the names of Jesus and Mary in gold) rather than in his usual bishop's vestments, the saint holds a book and a sword, the instruments of his martydom. In the lower border, composed of feather-like leaves and delicate rose and crimson flowers, are two dragonflies devouring a fly or a bee. This subject may be explained by Saint Valentine's patronage of beekeepers. [M-P269] (Pl.130)

Master of Catherine of Cleves. The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: St. Valentine. c.1440. Franco-Flemish.

Free Renoir Prints

Pick and let me know which do you want. First-come, first-serve. I'm picking out two for one of you. I'll let you know what I pick--or dime cuale imagine te gusta.

1. Irene Cahen d'Anvers
   
2. Dejeuner des canotiers
3. Joueuse de guitare
4. Canotiers a Chatou
5. Sur la terrasse
6. Femme a l'ombrelle et enfant
   
7. There is a seventh but I cannot find or know the name.

Quote

"...it is not necessarily important that an image be visible for its essence to be conveyed." - Stone-Miller, Rebecca. 2002. Art of the andes : From chavín to inca. World of art. London: Thames & Hudson.

1537 Printing Press in Mexico City

While researching events pertaining to the arts in 16th century Mexico City, I came across two items on printing. According to Diana Fane's book Converging Cultures: Art and Identity in Spanish America (Harry N. Abrams, 1996), the printing press was introduced in Mexico City in 1535. Martin S. Soria, author of the journal article "Notes on Early Murals in Mexico" in Studies in the Renaissance, Vol. 6. (1959) claims that Giovanni Paolo (Juan Pablos) of Brescia, Italy, was the first printer active in Mexico (a. 1539-61). What was done with the printing press between its introduction in 1535 and Paolo's arrival in 1539? Was it used? If so, who was at the helm? Was Paolo just the first European printer active in Mexico?

A lovely long bike ride

You know, you never really get to know your town until you hit the pavement with your bike or feet. It is like being a tourist in another country--down-low living with the locals, as a local; getting to know the neighborhoods, meeting people. On this ride, I introduced myself to the local YW/MCA; saw the building over 100 times from my car but never stopped in. I found out there are some great people near me who offer a gym, a pool, and ping pong. I was on my way to one errand where I ran out of steam and figured I needed to go back home and take a break. Over 5 miles today...

inimical, a.

an adjective; from the OED, SECOND EDITION 1989:

1. Having the disposition or temper of an enemy; unfriendly, hostile.
2. Adverse or injurious in tendency or influence; harmful, hurtful.

As in "A refusal to accept the hypocrisies inherent in society marriage, La Maintenon feared was inimical to Christian virtue." - from Athenais: The Life of Louis XIV's Mistress, the Real Queen Of France by Lisa Hilton