Do you remember your future?

All of us have memories.
All of us ruminate.
To find a useful application of memories is empowering.
And here’s why.

Thinkwriting is about accessing completely specific, singularly occurring, early childhood moments that take place before a person reaches puberty. In these specific childhood moments are found the authentic fingerprints of one’s future.

Although it might be enjoyable to look back and remember how much fun it was to visit Uncle Paul and Aunt Effie on the farm, or to recollect how everyone at your house stopped whatever he or she was doing on Sunday night to watch Bonanza, or even how you hated riding the school bus the year you lived in Boston, these kinds of general recollections are not specific occurrences and therefore tell us only about your childhood and not about how you remember your future.

Just keep in mind that all early memories are not created equal. If you review Thinkwriter, you will notice that every person’s memory discussed on the blog, including the memories of the two Clintons (Bill and Hillary), as well as those of Obama, McCain, Dowd, O'Donnell, McGreevey and others, is a recollection of a specific occurrence or several specific occurrences. The good news is that knowing your own or someone else’s earliest memories is the revealing of the worldview.

Plain and simple.
Just like we like it.
Thinkwriting: Writing to Remember Your Future.

Which window is yours?

In terms of worldview, each of us uses a distinctive lens for seeing the world. This lens is unique and enduring. How could it be any other way?

Were it not so, we would not recognize ourselves, or be able to recognize or depend on our own thinking, doing, or even dreaming. We would be without a fundamental point of reference, which is the most characteristic aspect of who we are. Look at it this way: Without our knowing fingerprint, we could not be identified...or identify ourselves!

The paradox, of course, is that we cannot know our own knowing. We cannot speak clearly about our own worldview and all its manifestations, because it is unavailable to us. For one thing, it would never stand up to the scrutiny of our own common sense. In fact, we would deny everything, (“That’s not me!”) without the help of a collaborator.

Only through the images and stories of our unprompted earliest memories and dreams, for example, can we possibly begin to see and know our own way of knowing. The question is…are you ready to peek behind the curtain of your everyday awareness and find your knowing fingerprint, the worldview that makes you… you?

What's write with us?

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is or how valuable or how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours - clearly and directly; to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware of the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others." Martha Graham (1894-1991)

What's write with you?

What is the first thing you remember – ever? Take your time – but be real. Don’t skip over what you really remember – grab on to your authentic first memory. It should be a specific moment – a one-time incident that might begin with the words “I remember one time...” or “Once when I was...”

Got it? Okay. Now consider this: You’ve thought about this memory before now – probably many times – or at least several times over your lifetime. Am I right? What makes this particular moment instead of so many others rememorable for you?

By the way, keep in mind that memory is never random; there are no accidental memories. What you remember you remember for a reason. And hey....figure that out and you’ve really got something. Then you will be able to access your worldview...how you’ve made up your mind; how you keep your mind…and how you are mindful of those things that guide your choices everyday.

Think about that for awhile....and while you are thinking about that, write your memory in first person, present tense. Begin figuring out what's write with you.