It's not that I'm getting older - it's...

Re:Caireaan's blog on  September 12th 2012... http://www.blogster.com/caireann/brain-farts

Doors

"Do you ever walk into a room with some purpose in mind — to get something, perhaps?

            — only to completely forget what that purpose was?  Turns out, doors themselves are to

 blame for these strange memory lapses."

Oh dear Caireaan, here comes an essay in reply because I found this blog so interesting, but...

I have been doing a lot of thinking on this very subject. I noted that young people, simple souls and children don't have this problem. Doors may also have something to do with it but what I found on doing some continual experiments on myself ( something one can do when living by oneself in the middle of nowhere) that it comes about by thinking of something, or more than one thing more emotionally important and they have a greater priority in my head which drowned/de-valued the thing I had intended to do as I walked towards it. And this was because as we get older our heads fill with more and more interesting 'stuff.'

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And as we get older many of our actions have become so familiar they are done either with habit or on instinct and without any conscious thought. When I am cooking my hand reaches for the salt and uses it. I know exactly where to put my hand to get it. But if I'm cooking when on holiday I have to consciously stop and think and look for the salt's position. When I come home from the holiday I stop in confusion for a day or so when I go to reach for the salt because I actually have to think and see it until it again becomes instinct. And why is it then I don't forget if I have already salted something because my head is always thinking of other things simultaneously now? Because, I noted, the brain from my constant repetition starts to form patterns in doing things. I don't have to think about it, the salt always goes in at a certain stage of cooking as did the stock as will the final tasting that all the seasonings etc are balanced just before serving.

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It seems as we age the body takes over the 'boring' stuff so that our brain and emotions are freed up to do more interesting things.

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More experiments: when I get into the shower I note I first wash my left arm, then my right arm, then to the neck and down to the rest of the body. I have at times consciously changed the order to break the habit just for fun, but it is not comfortable.

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I know about living in the moment. I can do it when doing something I need more concentation for, like mowing the lawn...but most times now it is much more interesting to play in my head and if I have to go into the bathroom four times before I remember it is because I want to turn the hot water cylinder to on/off , so be it. At the very least it is good exercise *grin*

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And the western world increase in alzheimers is maybe because we note we're getting forgetful of why we 'came into the bathroom' and we start to worry that we're getting alzheimers and it's the worry of getting alzheimers that actually starts creating the problem?

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