A narrow line of vision

Sometimes I am reminded of an event that I was a part of by someone who has a clear memory of it.  I try really hard to remember the details of the event, but usually to no avail.  What has happened?  Has my brain deteriorated?  Is someone trying to plant a memory for an event that never happened?

Sometimes, if it's one of my family, the memory difference or gap is merely a matter of perspective or maturity at the time.  But at other times, it seems that anything could have happened because truly I have no memory of that event.

Tonight one such mention was made of an experience my son had.  I was with him at the time of the event that had been brought up.  I didn't think that the experience happened in the way that was being told.  I was there, though.  I should have known.  It's possible that the person telling of the event totally confused two events and told the wrong one, or that we snapshot the event from different aspects and so, in the retelling, only one aspect showed through.  Maybe my memory of the aspect of the experience and the other person's perspective of the aspect could both be true.

Our judgment is only as good as our information - at least that is how the saying goes.  But what if our judgment is wholly colored by the aspect our memories snapshot.  That changes the whole game.  And, if that's true, then all of life in our memories is not reality as a whole, but merely a slice of much more robust reality. 

That makes me a little more understanding.  And I also realize how arrogant I was when I was younger.  My how youth is wasted on the young.