"They've Got To Be Around Here Somewhere..."

Johnny Carson would on frequent occasions have as one of his guests an individual who would demonstrate his amazing ability to remember the names of people he had met but for a few brief seconds just prior to the show going on air. This gentleman would introduce himself to a minimum of two dozen or so members of the audience and, when called upon to do so, would not only remember their names, but where they were from and perhaps some other trivial information about each individual. I was impressed at his uncanny ability, as I have difficulty in remembering people's names and, more troubling, where I left my glasses, after having laid them down some place only five minutes ago. You?

Seems this individual, and others with the same ability, are not so much gifted as they have trained themselves to "kick their brains into gear" to master the task of remembering the mundane matters of everyday life. Here's supposedly how it works... Let's say you find yourself regularly forgetting where you place your car keys. The trick is to be deliberately conscious at the time you lay down your keys to make a mental associative image that would connect and help you recall where exactly the keys have been placed. The example given in the text that I read used as an illustration a flower pot. (Don't ask me why a flowerpot was used. I find it strange that any sane person would ever consider tossing anything in a flower pot other than seeds...but I digress). Not only are you to place an image of the flower pot in your brain, but you are to further visualize a flower growing out of it. So, when you again need to retrieve your keys the image of the flower growing out of the flower pot will trigger the memory of, "Aha! That's where I left my keys." I'm skeptical... You?

I'm thinking (which is a stretch for me in the first place) that if this technique has a shred of validity, why not select a location that invokes pleasurable images, like on top of the television, or inside the refrigerator, or firmly tucked warmly between my wife's breasts? Seems to me that by doing so I could kill two birds with one stone (pardon the intended pun) - turn on or off the TV, retrieve a refreshing snack, or...well, just never you mind!

When it comes to keeping up with my vehicle keys, I've pretty much got that mastered. When not operating the vehicle my keys are in only one of two places - in my pocket or on the shelf next to the back door. It's my glasses that I can't keep up with, and I must have them to not only drive, but to focus on anything that it more than five feet away. I don't require the glasses when I read or performing any task up close. So invariably I am constantly setting them aside in various locations around the house...then find myself frustratingly wandering from room to room trying to remember where. Maybe I should purchase a whole bunch of flowerpots or, better yet, talk Judi into keeping them in that personal place I mentioned earlier. Looking for them would be one thing...finding them quite another. If she would agree to that as a solution I might begin to misplace all kinds of things. My baseball cap for instance or my favorite flashlight.

I guess I should take heart in the fact that "temporary memory loss" isn't really the early stages of some far worse mental malady. It's really just a matter of concentration. To make us all feel better know that the phrase, "It's on the tip of my tongue" is a familiar saying in over 40 languages. That being said, I still need to fine my glasses.