Emotional Time Warps

Why is it that there are moments throughout our life that come and go with little or no significance while others become eternal memories that can be easily recalled with remarkable precision?

I was recently thinking through my most powerful memories and wondered what made them so special. They vary greatly, but one thing common throughout all of them is emotion. Extremely strong emotion.

Most of my significant memories were formed using mental connections during moments of powerful emotion. These moments always have a linking agent that can instantly produce the exact emotion felt in the original moment. The linking agents become triggers. Like most people, my most common triggers are music and scent. For example:

• Dave Matthews Band takes me to La Crosse, WI (due to my brother), Alpine Valley and many great high school memories.
• Several songs take me back to the discos of London’s Vauxhall district. I can remember the exact disco, my location in the club, who I was with, what I was doing and I physically FEEL the same feelings when the connections were formed.

Time warps do exist. Go ahead, close your eyes and allow yourself to be whisked away.