Ways of Memoring

Here are some thoughts about how to do memoring.

1. You must begin with a topic to inspire your memoring and the memoring must relate to that topic.
2. Topics can take virtually any form: for example a particular object; sensation; or activity. Specific types of location are good, as are specific colours or sounds.
3. You should not generate the topic yourself, for example by thinking about something that you'd like to remember. Instead you should find ways to generate topics at random.
4. It is OK to reshape the topic in order to catch hold of a memoring. See for example my post on "beachball".
5. Be wary if your mind drifts towards something that feels "ready" to remember: memorings should be "new" - they are not simple memories that we have thought of several times since the remembered event happened. Sticking rigidly to the topic will help with this.

Some good randomness generators:

• Asking your loved one to give you a memoring topic.
• Choose a number from one to twenty then select that number (eg the twentieth) noun in a book nearby on a shelf
• Go to the homepage of a good newspaper website and look select a topic word from one of the headlines

Good times that I have found to do memoring:

• lying in bed in the dark.
• When I need a break from a particularly dull mental task
• While walking to and or from work

REMEMBER that memorings aren't meant to be "big" or important things: the best memorings will be of objects that quickly outlived their usefulness; inconsequential events; or relate to people that quickly entered and passed from your life.