Have you ever been thinking about a movie you watched and thought, “that was a good movie I should find it so I can rewatch it.” Then after an intense search you find it. You get your popcorn ready, get comfortable on the couch, and begin what you expect to be an exciting blast of the past. As you watch the movie you realize it was not nearly as realistic as you though it was going to be. You can recall the graphics being much better, yet here it is in front of you lacking said graphics.
It’s a strange thing how the mind works. How many of us can recall memories so vivid we’re sure their real, the a new tictock shows up with the mendella effect and we realize we were wrong the entire time. The reality is the mendella effect is really just a larger grouping of something that happens in our own heads all the time. As time passes out memories change. Sometimes these changes are for the better, we gain a new perspective or lose something that truly scarred us. Sometimes these changes are for the worse like when we’re so certain something happened the way we remember it happening.
The reality is we all shape memories, whether we do it on purpose or we do it without noticing. I can recall looking back on a memory I had with my wife. At the time I was dating someone else. We were just talking about her situation and I felt really good about our conversation and felt glad we could be so close as to talk like we’re were. I didn’t recall any romantic feelings at the time, but when I first started thinking about the possibility of dating my wife when I looked back suddenly I felt like that was the moment I had started to feel attracted to her as more then a friend. A change of perspective molded my memory. Now looking back I can’t see anything but that moment being the first moment I started falling in love with my wife. I know if I went back now and talked to that kid he’d see it differently.
This makes each moment that much more important knowing that once it passes you’ll lose that moment forever. Even your memories can’t hold to the reality of each moment, because as time goes on those will change.
Note: Because of issues with my internet I started this post over approximately four times after having written the entire thing. Seems ironic considering it was a post focused on memory.
Jacob Gittins 
Oh yeah, this happens to me with video games. I have such fond memories of games from childhood, but when I replay them, I only wonder how I could’ve stomached such elementary products. Great point about appreciating the present, which is something we definitely take too much for granted. Thanks for this post!
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