Some moments can trigger an avalanche of memories - old dusty impressions that suddenly and unexpectedly crawl out of the mind's attic, take on wispy shapes and start clamouring for attention.
Like certain smells, which one struggles to even identify, let alone describe in words, and yet which can set off very specific trains of thoughts or images in the mind. Or like falling sick. A specific kind of falling sick, not so virulent that you are incapacitated, yet troublesome enough that you are constantly aware of it. It may sneakily take one back to other such in-between times - when the mind has been strong but the body hasn't, or the other way around. It is more likely to prompt an uneasy sense of one's long term vulnerability than some more intense illness or trauma.
A handkerchief pilfered from my mother's handbag the last time we were together, still in mine, comes to my rescue when I'm attacked by a particularly vicious coughing bout. The image of her smiling face that its fragrance conjures up is instantaneous - another reminder of the innumerable ways in which our consciousness is tied to this world and everything in it.
The dreams of our past masquerading as the memories of our future - this is what we must transcend. The relentless interdependence of things.
Like certain smells, which one struggles to even identify, let alone describe in words, and yet which can set off very specific trains of thoughts or images in the mind. Or like falling sick. A specific kind of falling sick, not so virulent that you are incapacitated, yet troublesome enough that you are constantly aware of it. It may sneakily take one back to other such in-between times - when the mind has been strong but the body hasn't, or the other way around. It is more likely to prompt an uneasy sense of one's long term vulnerability than some more intense illness or trauma.
A handkerchief pilfered from my mother's handbag the last time we were together, still in mine, comes to my rescue when I'm attacked by a particularly vicious coughing bout. The image of her smiling face that its fragrance conjures up is instantaneous - another reminder of the innumerable ways in which our consciousness is tied to this world and everything in it.
The dreams of our past masquerading as the memories of our future - this is what we must transcend. The relentless interdependence of things.
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