Memory Attic
About forgotten memories and how I revisit them
I love this feeling that I get every time I remember very old memories, memories that I forgot I had.
Moments that happened long ago, and that, although special, have not been relived or shared with someone in a long time. Because that's the thing with memories, the further we cruise through life, the more we accumulate, and like many of the things we choose to preserve, we put them in a safe location for posterity, but it's only when we need something from that closet, attic or storage unit that we go in and realise all the things that we forgot we had there. Memories are the same.
A few nights ago, we were having tacos for dinner, and one thing that I always do is play music in accordance with what we are eating. If we eat Italian, I'll look for an "Italian dinner" playlist; if we eat Venezuelan, I'll play a Venezuelan artist, and so on and so forth.
This time, a Mexican artist was in order, obviously.
I went straight to Kinky, a Mexican band with a very particular sound, and for me, with a very particular story attached to them. I saw them live once, their first presentation ever in Venezuela, and I ended up there by an unexpected chain of events. They were great, I had a ridiculous amount of fun, and looking back, what a great memory.
I started telling my partner the story of how I ended up there. After that, I kept telling her stories that occurred right after, most of them from my time living in Caracas while doing my internship. And that was it, I found the key, and suddenly, I found myself walking inside the attic of my memory...
I started to remember all these memories that I have not revisited in so many years, memories I forgot I had, reliving moments I forgot I lived, and it was wonderful. The best part? They are all different, but very real, almost tangible.
Some of them come with a soundtrack. I can hear the songs in my head. Sometimes it's just that, the playback of a song, like streaming it to my mind from the Spotify of my past. Other times, I get back to a specific moment when music was playing in the background, and I can hear it all over again.
On other occasions, it feels like going back in time, truly reliving that moment and being there, walking the space, doing that thing again, seeing the people, saying those words, feeling those feelings. It feels so real. Both good and bad memories.
In many cases, it's like rewatching a clip from a movie. The light, the colours, the textures, the atmosphere, the music, and again, the feelings. I can even remember specific words that were said to me or in passing, the most random things, the most trivial things, the most important things. I don’t get to choose. I’m just a spectator, and it’s truly magical.
The only real shame for me is not being able to print any of these moments, any of these snapshots. I wish I had some pictures to show or share. Although in reality, I do have them, vivid, very vivid, just in my head, and we have no printer for those... At least not yet 🙂
In case you were wondering, here are some of the playlists:
