"There is a secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed and forgetting. Consider this utterly commonplace situation: a man is walking down the street. At a certain moment, he tries to recall something, but the recollection escapes him. Automatically, he slows down. Meanwhile, a person who wants to forget a disagreeable incident he has just lived through starts unconsciously to speed up his pace, as if he were trying to distance himself from a thing still to close to him in time. In existential mathematics, that experience takes the form of two basic equations: the degree of slowness is directly proportional to the intensity of memory; the degree of speed is directly proportional to the intensity of forgetting." ~Milan Kundera
My thanks to regular reader and commenter Bella for this one.
Nice, FW, Nice. Thanks for sharing it. How are the 100 days going so far ?
ReplyDeleteMostly quite well, Molly. A few lapses, but...gently start again, just as we gently come back to the breath. Going well. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd you?
Well FW (I know you know) but you've got me smiling big time! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the quote from the wonderful Kundera - his words always get me blissfully lost in a jungle of thoughts.
"Going slow" does link well with nature lovers - the slower you go the more you notice life more - like watching a seedling grow, each new leaf is noted and celebrated.
I only wish this were true for me. I spend many years speeding along... trying to forget. No such luck.
ReplyDeleteI've had to slow down and engage with the memory in a different way. It's good. I'm still not entirely convinced that I wouldn't have preferred forgetting though :)
This is just so right on with what I've been noticing since I've stepped up my practice recently. I've been observing how things have begun to slow down, and just today I noticed how less forgetful I've been. Mindfulness & awareness are definitely kicking in. Plus I love there's a mathematical formula, geek-speak, for this - sweet!
ReplyDeleteOh, and thanks for blogrolling me!
Bella,
ReplyDeleteRight you are. I'm all about slowing...at least in theory. ;)
In practice it requires a steady, intentional effort...but I've never found that it wasn't worth it to slow down.
Wilsonian,
I get the distinction you are making and the difference.... Like all quotes, "soundbites," Kundera's words are not categorically true for every circumstance...
I do hope that one day you will cross a threshold and find that memory has served you better than forgetting...
Peace
Alice,
You are welcome. :) And welcome here too; it's nice to see your name in the comments box. I am glad this one resonated with you and glad to scratch the geek itch with Kundera's equation.
Peace
I've been getting lost (in a good way) in some of your older posts and just re-read your post here. I originally read it as a thanks to your regular readers and also, to my comments...aarh, now I see it was a thanks to me alone....not a big deal I know, but my comments may belie my shyness. Gee, how could I ever entertain having a blog when my exposure as a commenter causes me embarrassment.
ReplyDelete:)
Addit:
I so love the poem "Instructions" from an earlier post, it captures something that resonates with me too.
Bella,
ReplyDeleteI still hope you'll have a blog one of these days. From your comments, I think it would be a good one. :)
Hi FW -
ReplyDeleteReading this and the prior post "Dark Ages" jointly seem to suggest that the speed of living and the shallowness of experiences that too many bring to their lives means that they are trying to forget something terrible.
Perhaps what they are trying to forget is their lack of experience of being fully alive.
Blessings,
Nalton
Nalton,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. That may indeed be....
Also, going well. You said it.....gently back again :)
ReplyDelete