Memory is one of those quiet miracles of being human. Mine slip into my mind without warning and sometimes with forethought, often accompanied by laughter or tears. They can be triggered by a feather found on the ground, a quarter that shows up in a weird place, rainbows, and the scent of pine and manzanita.
These memories arrive in moments both ordinary and sacred, reminding me that nothing fully loved is ever entirely lost.
There is something deeply moving about the way my memory works. It doesn’t always come when called, and as I age, it is sometimes difficult to call forward on command. Sometimes it just shows up on its own, stirred by a scent, a song, a prism of light across the floor. In that instant, I’m no longer standing only in the present moment. I find myself in some other time, some other room, even in some other version of myself.
Memory opens many doors and invites me into joy, to laughter, pulls at my heartstrings, sends me reeling in grief, or just finds me standing on the shore with a gentle wave..
At its simplest, my memory is the keeper of what has mattered. It helps me carry forward the people, places, lessons, and loves that shaped me. It holds the stories about who I’ve been, and in doing so, it quietly influences who I am becoming.
Even memories that ache have something to offer. They remind me that I have lived, loved, and that my heart has stretched wide enough to hold both joy and sorrow.
Memory is not only about looking back, it is also about recognition. It teaches me to notice patterns in my world, to gather wisdom from experience, to make meaning from what once perhaps felt scattered.
A remembered mistake can become discernment, a kindness can become a way of life, and a remembered hardship can nurture my compassion for someone else walking through difficult times. The past when held gently, becomes a guide to living my best today.
There is also much beauty in the fact that my memory is rarely perfect. It had softened the edges of many a hard lesson, illuminated some important details while letting other less significant ones fall away. In that way, my memory behaves almost like my soul itself, choosing what to hold close and what to let slip away.
I may not remember every word someone said, but I remember how they made me feel. I may forget the sequence of events but remember the love, the comfort, the courage, and the belonging that grew from it. Sometimes that is the deepest truth memory has to offer me, not a perfect record, but an enduring essence.
To remember is, in some quiet and holy way, to keep loving. It is to say that this mattered, this person mattered, this life I have lived, matters. Memory gathers up the fleeting moments and whispers that they are never meaningless. What was once a moment, has become part of who I am now, woven into my heart and carried forward as a blessing.
What is one of your fondest memories? What triggers it? Do you ever write those memories down so you might one day pass them along?
Wandering down memory lane this week…
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Vicki Dobbs is a bold and adventurous warrior walking a path of heart to manifest spirituality in everyday lives. She opens existential gateways for individuals to face their challenges and embrace these tests as the great teachers that they are.
Her goal is to see everyone walk in beauty and balance every day of their lives empowered by the voice of their own authentic truth.
Through Wisdom Evolution and Sacred Wisdom Workshops, Vicki creates opportunities for others to make deep personal changes through experiential classes, ceremony, sacred art and story. She endeavors to inspire others to create their lives intentionally. Vicki is an Inspirator of everyday awareness, an Instigator of spontaneous stories and a Connoisseur of Creativity. Gratitude and grace sprinkled with humility and humor are the medicine she brings to the world.
As an Elder, Teacher and Entrepreneur, Spiritual Coach, Ordained Minister and Crafter of Sacred Art and Tools, Vicki perceives life’s journey as an ever-upward spiraling ascension of the human spirit leading her to wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.
Her experience includes being trained in the Harner Method of Shamanic Counseling and the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of Cross Cultural Shamanism. She is a Graduate Teacher and Mentor with the Lynn Andrews Center For Sacred Arts and Training and has been the Administrator and Writers Guide for Writing Spirit, the School.
Vicki is also an Artist of the Spirit Certified Spiritual and Energetic Life Coach, a Graduate Mentor in the AoS program and a founding member of HeatherAsh Amara’s Warrior Goddess Leadership Team and Facilitator of the Warrior Heart Practice.
Connect with Vicki here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vickildobbsauthor