Friday Follies - I'd Change My Mind But I've Lost It.

I had a great idea for today's blog - it came to me in the usual way, while I was doing something mundane like sweeping floors or hanging clothes.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what it was.  No idea.  I've been trying to remember by focussing on what it was, on not focussing what it was, basically giving my mind several chances to redeem itself.  My mind, apparently, has a mind of it's own.  This blog is not about that idea.  I still have can't recall what my brainwave was about.

I'm not sure if it's age, peri-menopause or the zero-care factor, but I've been noticing that my memory is having what I will call 'issues'.  Having a good memory was something I have taken for granted, and now that it seems to be working sporadically, I miss it.  Looking on the positive side, I do miss it - if my memory was really bad, I wouldn't know it was gone, and I wouldn't miss it, so I will take this as a positive.  I have to - the alternative is scaring me.

Misery loves company, and in my discussions with friends and family bemoaning the fact that the old grey matter isn't working quite as well as it used it, I have discovered that my peers are dealing with the same problem. Phew - it's not just me.Just the other day I was in the kitchen, and I thought that I must go into the bedroom to grab the book that I needed to return to Mum.  Knowing my current 'issues' with my memory, I knew I had to act immediately.  Off I toddled to the bedroom, stopping to straighten a throw laying the ottoman on the way.  In the immortal words of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman - "Big Mistake".  The minute that my feet crossed the threshold to the bedroom, I wondered why on earth I went in there in the first place.  Retracing my steps, I returned to the kitchen hoping to tweak my memory.  It worked, and I rushed back to the bedroom, picked up the book and put it on the kitchen counter - right smack dab in the middle - so that I wouldn't forget to take it with me when we left in a couple of hours.  I'm glossing over the fact that I meant to return it to her twice before but forgot.

I'm finding more and more often that I get these great ideas and if I don't write them down immediately, they float off into the ether.  Sometimes they are retrieved, sometimes not. 

Words that used to flow into my speech now trip up on my tongue and are held captive in my brain, triumphantly pouncing out at 2 am or three days later when I wonder why it was so important to remember that particular word or that name of the famous in that movie - you know, the one with that actor that's married with 3 kids?

I'm learning some coping mechanisms or tools, such as reaching for my phone and typing out notes for later use, or setting reminders that pop up on my phone and can't be ignored.  I find the phone reminders particularly useful as one dog needs weekly medication.  Daily medication is really easy to remember, weekly is not.  The 'bing' of my phone has saved my butt many times.  Sticky notes on the bathroom mirror and emails to myself also have a place in my life.  One thing that does not work is asking someone to remind me to do something.  When everyone around you is having the same struggles with their memories, they are not reliable. 

The funny thing about memory is that I can probably tell you heaps of useless celebrity gossip - why can I remember that and not what I need to do tomorrow?

I guess I can still be grateful that I leave for work in the morning with my underwear underneath my pants or skirt, not on top, and that my memory does eventually kick in, even if it is just a bit slow.

Maybe by next Friday I'll remember what I was going to write about today?  If not, I know several ideas will come to me....and leave just as quickly.