CLICK & USE THE FILTERS 

Life is a series of still pictures and motion memories, isn’t it? Irrespective of your age, as you look back, you will see glimpses of all that made you laugh, cry, blissful, frustrated, angry, excited and so on. Being emotional beings, it is but natural for us to rewind the reel just to visit milestones of our life. With the advanced digital technology, it happens with rather ease and we can go down the memory lane by looking at the photographs- places visited, moments shared and laughter accredited.  

The other kind of visit to the memory lane happens through the mental pictures and movies. Come, let us do a little experiment. When was the last time you laughed out loud? Or had fun? As you think about that event, notice- is it a still picture or a movie that is playing? Does it have colours or is it black and white? Can you hear the laughter or the conversation? Do you see yourself smiling as you see this memory? Isn’t it amazing to experience that memories are stored in a particular format and they trigger the same response of feelings each time? 

Now, let me share with you something that can help you play with the memories that trouble you. It can be a lot of fun and you get the byproduct of getting rid of the emotional disruption caused by the memory! 

So let us take a memory that irritates you a little, the one that sends a little “ughhh” feeling through your body. Remember, “just a little!” If it is a movie, take a snapshot of that and allow it to paste on the wall, in front of you. It is a piece of imagination so go ahead and do it! If it is a picture, just stick it on the wall. Now, like a kid filled with curiosity, observe it and see the qualities it has- the borders, the colours, shape, size, brightness, sharpness, distance from you and anything else that stands out. Take your time… Now, begin to play with it… Change it around… If the frame is wooden, remove it or change it to a plastic frame. If it is colourful, turn it into black and white; reduce the size, make it dull. In short, just do the opposite of what your mind is giving you as the qualities of the picture and then see the memory that irritated you earlier, does it make you feel better or worse? If better, yay, the experiment is successful and if worse, tweak the qualities a little more, stay playful and curious and see the results. 

The memories in the limbic brain are stored in a very specific way. When we begin to play with it, it produces a different result. Each significant, especially episodic memories, has either a particular feeling or an emotion attached to it. When we play around with the memory, the corresponding emotion/ feeling alters. When we want to click the best photo, we make it the best through camera filters and various applications. For our troublesome memories, we are doing the exact opposite. We are making them less attractive to the mind by changing the filters!

Go on… Add a green moustache to the person who’s face you can’t stand; add a nightingale’s  voice to someone you don’t like hearing and see what you feel. 

Experiment; Play and Stay Curious!