My earliest memory is at about age four. I am riding around outside my house on my red tricycle. After about ten minutes I fall off and scrape my knee. My mom takes me inside and puts nasty-looking red antibiotic on my knee, and it hurts a lot.
I don't really feel any continuity with that memory, because I can hardly remember anything about my personality at that age. The furthest back I can go and still feel "like me" is about kindergarten or first grade.
-- Edited by 102intro on Wednesday 18th of March 2009 09:32:00 AM
I find it interesting that a lot of the memories posted, such as yours, deal with some sort of traumatizing or painful memory. As a young child, it seems that a bad memory sticks in our mind more readily than a happy one. This is similar to my memory in this aspect, and it is intriguing and depressing that for some reason, happy memories are harder to remember.
Our memories take place at age four and involve pain. Perhaps pain is an extraordinary circumstance that instills the memory in our mind. It probably helps the memory consolidate and become vivid when we try to recall it despite it being very long ago.
My earliest memory was also of a stressful situation. I think it is interesting that traumatic situations are some of the most remembered events, however extremely traumatic events are completely forgotten and repressed. I wonder where the limit lies between extremely traumatic and just small amounts of stress.
Although my own memory wasn't related to pain or a traumatic situation, I found it very easy to think of many instances in which I was hurt. I would imagine that this is so because for children pain is such a new and extreme feeling that we can't help but remember it.
My memory also had to do with a painful experience, but I think we remember because of the great contrast that exists in the memory, not jsut because it was painful. I dont remember plenty of painful events but I remember this one because it was a big contrast from painful to really happy. Perhaps its the same thing with your red tricycle.
Your memory is similar to mine in that it involves fear or pain. I was afraid of being near a tornado. I think that strong emotions such as these that are attached to an even make it much more memorable.
Penname: FrootLoops
-- Edited by 102intro on Wednesday 1st of April 2009 04:59:26 AM
