Memories

 Memories are a subject that are sometimes hard to talk about. It is completely subjective whether someone wants to talk about them or not. It depends on whether they are good or bad memories solely. But my question is what makes a memory bad. I did some light research on trying to answer this question (I only looked to Camus and Aristotle), but decided to try to answer it myself. To answer this question I think we first need to establish what a good memory is. A good memory could be different for literally everyone. A good memory for me was the first time I climbed because it became the introduction to my favorite thing ever. This same exact memory may not be the same for everyone because I have heard examples of people getting injured their first time climbing and never trying it again. For that same person that never tried climbing again they might have had an awesome time in high school and had lots of friends and tell people that is one of their good memories. However for me, high school is not fun. So does that mean it will be a bad memory. Maybe not. I believe that what makes a good memory good and a bad memory bad is the feeling it induces on you. If a memory makes you smile and feel warm inside you could consider it a good memory. If a memory makes you feel a pain in your chest and makes your heart drop to your stomach then, no, that is a bad memory. This then leads me to why we have bad memories and why we do not get rid of them immediately. "Memory is, therefore, neither Perception nor Conception, but a state or affection of one of these, conditioned by lapse of time. … All memory, therefore, implies a time elapsed; consequently only those animals which perceive time remember, and the organ whereby they perceive time is also that whereby they remember." Aristotle said this in section 449b of his book On Memory and Recollection from around 330 B.C. What I get from what he is saying is that we need all types of memories because it is a piece of our time alive as humans. Even though these memories will never be removed from our mind we can get rid of the emptiness they give us. I am currently working towards this in my own life and have done it before.

    Another thing I wanted to talk about was just my favorite and least favorite memories as I'm writing this. My favorite memory comes from this year. Sportrock, which is the rock climbing gym I work at and climb at, has a lock in twice a year. The lock in is an event when everyone on the team stays in the gym overnight. In the morning me and my best friends, Robby, Liv, Max, and Miles, went out to watch the sunrise. There was one specific moment while the sun was rising. It was not the actual beauty of the sunrise that made the memory do good. It was the moment of realization that I loved these people more than anything. I realized that I had finally found my people for the rest of my life. And I love them all so much. My least favorite memory is one I don't want to openly talk about. But I hope you enjoyed reading my rant. Have a blessed day.

B. Smith

June 18, 2025

“The Internet Classics Archive: On Memory and Reminiscence by Aristotle.” The Internet Classics Archive | On Memory and Reminiscence by Aristotle, classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/memory.html. Accessed 18 June 2025.