Hard Driver

Have ever noticed how hard it is to retain certain kinds of information? The mnemonic centers of the brain seem to reject these the way the body does an organ transplant. If it’s an attitude like altruism you might say consciousness is pushing back simply because people are endemically selfish and self-serving. However, there are other kinds of data for which the forgetting is harder to understand. In traditional Japanese karate, Kata are the choreographed moves against an imagined opponent. These represent a mixture of beauty and aggression and can range from 16 movements up to 54 (Koryugojushiho) and beyond. If you don’t constantly practice Koryugojushiho, you will forget it. Language itself can similarly resist retention if not always used. Undoubtedly, you've met those who spoke perfect French after their junior year abroad but then complained they'd forgot everything by the time they returned to France as adults. Looking through your retrospectroscope, you may conclude this “momentary” form of memory is the purest and most spiritual, since it reinforces the notion of living in the now.

read "Is Your Self-Invention a Success? by Francis Levy, HuffPost

and listen to "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner