Fatbobman’s Swift Weekly #043 | Archiving and Awakening Memories
Weekly Comment
Archiving and Awakening Memories
Last weekend, I attended a high school reunion. While I’ve maintained close contact with many classmates, there were a few I hadn’t seen in decades since graduation. During the gathering, many classmates were immersed in reminiscing about our school days, with a projector on the wall displaying a meticulously crafted slideshow of old school photos.
Gazing at my younger self in those old photographs and listening to classmates recount anecdotes involving me, I once again fell into a daze: the person in the photos was indeed me, and the events they discussed were surely ones I had led or participated in, yet I had no recollection of them whatsoever. This scenario has occurred repeatedly at many gatherings.
I tend to view this phenomenon optimistically, not seeing it as a sign of declining memory. Perhaps the brain has stored these memories in a “deep archive” in some corner, requiring time and external assistance to retrieve them.
Fortunately, the iOS Photos app has the ability to automatically organize memories from vast collections of images. It occasionally presents events from the past decade or so in thematic collections, helping me awaken those archived memories.
