Why is it that I'm so compelled to take pictures of everything? I carry a small digital camera in my bag, and whatever happens I'm ready to record it for posterity.I kid myself that I have to have the camera with me for the newsletter pictures for my church and my woman's club. Because you can't do a decent newsletter without pictures, and you can't count on anyone else to take them. Thus camera always on me, spare battery, too.
But that's not the real reason I take so many pictures.
The fact is, I suffer from CRS disease. You know, can't remember shit? So I take pictures of everything that happens to help me remember. I'm so obsessed with recording my life that I even snap shots in the car. While I'm driving.
My memory is terrible, and I'm not that old. Really. If I'm this bad now, what's it going to be like when I'm 80?
According to the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), aging seems to cause the loss of neurotransmitters in the brain. This makes it harder to retain new matter. But once learned, older people retain as well as younger ones.
The AARP also says that forgetting may be almost as important as remembering, because "retaining every single bit of information you've been exposed to throughout your life would be catastrophic. For this reason, our brains sort out what will and what won't become long-term memories."
So my conclusion is that my CRS disease is just the result of a selective brain. Sounds more impressive than impairment of memory function, doesn't it? And I've got all my pictures to remind me of where I've been and what I've done.
So why did I take that picture from the car yesterday?
I forget...
