Very odd memories - does this happen to you?

B

Bellesfleurs

New Member
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
I'm just curious of I'm the only one experiencing this or if it happens to anyone else.

For at least 2 years now, and maybe longer, I get flashes of random places I've been pop into my mind.

These aren't really "memories" but more like postcards or snapshots. There are no other people in them; there are no emotions or even thoughts attached to them. They're just places I've been -- a parking lot at a store I frequented when I lived in this or that city, a store I used to go to, a vista I would drive by, etc. These aren't usually from my early life but moreso my middle age and later.

They're complete spontaneous and unbidden, not a result of some train of thought or prompted by some other memory. Neither pleasant or unpleasant, just completely neutral.

Now, I can, if I want, follow them to remember more about the scene, but usually I don't.

I just think it's weird. It happens probably up to 5 times a day.

What about you?
 

Yes it does. I get plenty of flash back memories from this life

Certain weather, scents, sounds and feelings can bring up memories related to them.
I usually like it , depending on the memory.
Sometimes I don’t.
 
Me too. Sudden, vivid recollections of past events are triggered by episodes in the present. Sometimes the connection is baffling to me.....why would I abruptly visualize a boating trip 60 years ago when I was in the 2nd grade by seeing a child on a tricycle?
Other times it's pretty clear cut: thunder rumbles in the distance and I can totally recall two college buddies and myself hilariously taking cover under an open sided carport with rain blowing in hard and lightning flashing.
And yes, the memories can be pleasant or painful.
All this may be part of having more yesterdays than we do tomorrows....
 

Yes, often a smell with trigger off a sudden memory. It just shows that everything we experience is stored away in our memory banks, ready to be retrieved like the data on a computer.
 
That is the way the brain works and that I why it is so miraculous. Note there are people that remember everything and I mean everything. Every experience you have is stored in your brain and some have a greater ability to bring them out to our conscious mind much like some folks are better on computers. I am sure there are people here that know people with great memories and we marvel at times when they bring up things we totally forgot about yet when another person recalls them we instantly recall as well up proving it was in our brain but some simply don't recall them as easy as others.
 
I am one who can remember detailed scenes, and what I was doing in them, from 3 years old, onward. I can also recall minutia that involves my old friends and their families. This freaks people out, so I have learned to not bring too much up, from the past, when getting together.
 
One of my many quirks is exactly what you described- I have a fantastic memory for buildings. I may have been 5 years old when my parents drove through some tiny hamlet, and I haven't been back since. But I can remember the buildings. Driving through, now, I could tell you which have been added on to. Why I can do this, I haven't the faintest idea. It's not that it helps me in my daily life-if ever. I can recall details of a building I haven't seen in decades, yet I can't remember the name of a coworker, whom I worked side by side, and with whom I ate lunch for well over a year. Go figure??????
 
Keesha said:
Yes it does. I get plenty of flash back memories from this life

Certain weather, scents, sounds and feelings can bring up memories related to them.
I usually like it , depending on the memory.
Sometimes I don’t.
Click to expand...

But that's the thing - these are completely spontaneous, NOT triggered by a single thing. Not anything.
 
Repondering said:
Me too. Sudden, vivid recollections of past events are triggered by episodes in the present. Sometimes the connection is baffling to me.....why would I abruptly visualize a boating trip 60 years ago when I was in the 2nd grade by seeing a child on a tricycle?
Other times it's pretty clear cut: thunder rumbles in the distance and I can totally recall two college buddies and myself hilariously taking cover under an open sided carport with rain blowing in hard and lightning flashing.
And yes, the memories can be pleasant or painful.
All this may be part of having more yesterdays than we do tomorrows....
Click to expand...
Not the same thing. Mine -- ALL of them -- are triggered by nothing at all, and are neither pleasant nor painful, just perfectly neutral. Again, like a snapshot.
 
Rosemarie said:
Yes, often a smell with trigger off a sudden memory. It just shows that everything we experience is stored away in our memory banks, ready to be retrieved like the data on a computer.
Click to expand...
Mine are triggered by nothing. Oh, I do have triggered memories, but that's not what I'm talking about. Smell, btw, is a very strong memory-prompter.
 
Pepper said:
Yes, happens to me too. Suddenly, for no reason I can think of, I feel I'm somewhere else in my life.
Click to expand...
I don't "feel" or even "think" anything - these are just scenes that would be meaningless except for the fact that they are scenes from in my life. Again, no people either, just neutral scenery.
 
Bellesfleurs said:
But that's the thing - these are completely spontaneous, NOT triggered by a single thing. Not anything.
Click to expand...
Oh. Trust me; I get those too. In fact that’s a huge understatement. Wham , our of the blue a sudden flood of memories from years ago. They kept coming and coming. I’m still blown away about it.

There is no way to explain these memories and why they suddenly appeared but it took me on an emotional roller coaster. The human mind is far more amazing than we give it credit for.
 
Keesha said:
Oh. Trust me; I get those too. In fact that’s a huge understatement. Wham , our of the blue a sudden flood of memories from years ago. They kept coming and coming. I’m still blown away about it.

There is no way to explain these memories and why they suddenly appeared but it took me on an emotional roller coaster. The human mind is far more amazing than we give it credit for.
Click to expand...
I'm just glad to learn I'm not alone. I mean, it seems harmless enough, but -- strange, and I'd never heard of that particular phenomenon before.
 
I don't get random memories out of the blue. They're always triggered by something - the connection may be as tenuous as someone who maybe has similar eyes to a friend from long ago, or the sparkly glue on Christmas cards bring me back to my childhood, or something.

My mind moves swiftly, but somewhat linearly. One thing triggers the next.
 
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