on remembering stuff i’ve forgotten
Why is it that when I try really hard to remember something, it’s as if my mind clamps shut like a vice, but when I decide to stop worrying about it and give up hope of ever retrieving the lost information, the answer immediately pours into my mind with no effort at all?
Category: just wondering, quirks One comment »
May 15th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Whenever I can’t remember something, it’s usually because my brain gets fixated on one answer, and for several minutes that is the ONLY answer it can generate.
For example, today I was trying to remember the name of the book about the workers who lived during the “Dust Bowl” and all I could think of was the Great Gatsby.
My thoughts went like this: Book? Oh, Great Gatsby. No, wait. That’s not it. Okay, think…Great Gatsby. NO. It’s not Great Gatsby. Dust Bowl. Workers. A bit about truckers who eat coconut cream pie…. Great Gatsby? NO–Great Gatsby. GAH!!!!