Rewriting the past

 Photographer: Terri Lee-Shield

I came across a great blog today by Si Dawson, EFT practitioner (please look up EFT, I am totally new to this, as I understand it it's a simple do it yourself therapy based on Chinese meridians but without having to use needles).

An older entry in Si's blog, dated 19th December 2008, struck me as truly inspiring. According to Si - he really sounds like a great guy - we can rewrite our past.  How? We carry memories with us. They are imperfect, we all know it, it is always difficult to recall the past in every detail, it is always only from our own perspective.

Ever had an argument with someone about what happened between the two of you? We say "You did this". He says "You did that".  And we think "God this person is lying. I never said anything of the sort. He is doing it to hurt me".  And later, when we think of what happened, it will be our own version of the events that we will recall, words that were uttered and which were painful to hear, our feelings of hurt and anger.  "These are the memories that we torture ourselves with. Regret over things done or not done. Disappointment at other people & ourselves. Perceived failures & missed opportunities" writes Si.

Photographer: Talkingdrum

We can change all that. We can revisit those negative memories and substitute them with positive ones. Your former lover insulted you? Turn that into a memory of a sincere compliment he/ she paid you.

"Your life is nothing but the sum of your memories" says Si. "Why not start a new life, right now? Just start with whatever pops in your head. Recreate your memories, making them as awesome as you possibly can. As Orwell famously said "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." Well you control the present".

I love this idea.  I dont particularly want to engage in lying to myself, I am not going to pretend I went to a different school, I had different parents or anything of the sort. The way I understand this is that I can replace the negative feeling with a positive one.

Does it work? Why not? When you do this you change your attitude to yourself and your energy changes. You become more accepting of yourself and more outgoing. It's the kind of thing that basically allows you to let go of grudges and helps you to move on.  True, we have heard about self-acceptance before, who has'nt? Self-acceptance can often be hard work. But Si's suggestion is fun and immediate.
 Photographer: Pascal Renoux

" Make your (remembered) life as beautiful, poetic & magical as you like!"

Thanks, Si Dawson!

Comments

  1. Well...
    I don't really know what to make of this idea.

    I think it's clear that sometimes, the remembered event isn't accurate, but in my case, it's rarely so inaccurate that I believe a lie. If it's inaccurate, it's because I've forgotten the truth, not because I remembered a lie.

    And I just can't imagine even being capable of lying to myself. I mean, I couldn't possibly rewrite my memories. For one thing, I'm just not particularly susceptible to suggestion. For another, I have a boatload of criticisms to do with the inauthenticity and disingenuity of rejecting the truth of your memories, no matter how painful.

    To me, it seems dangerously close to allying with that sort of self-help that denies responsibility in favour of thinking, doing, and feeling what you want rather than... anything useful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We spend too much time fault finding in others and ourselves. I think this is something to take with a pinch of salt but why not try to remember what is positive rather than what is negative?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think, ideally, it's a positive thing to be able to accept negative memories for the transformative effect that the events which caused them had... so, a sort of positive reflection upon a negative event. All part of self-acceptance.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely, Hatebunny.By the way I will need you help as a philosopher to develop my Aletheia Project. More later

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment