goldfish go blub blub blub
When I think about my childhood (or even what happened last year), I tend to only remember the bad parts. In fact, the only memory I have of the 5-year old me was when I locked my family out of our hotel room… it was embarrassing to say the least. Many of these embarrassing moments still come to haunt me, and I’ve never known why. Thi’s memoir reflects this almost too well. When she writes about her childhood, she doesn’t begin with the bright parts, or even talk about them much. Instead, she begins with the fear she felt from her father and the distance inside her own home. The bad memories become the base of which the rest of her childhood and novel grow upon. The Best We Could Do is an interesting book to say the very least. So far, I haven’t been “wowed” by the book, and I also haven’t been able to care so much for the book. Maybe it's the writing, maybe it's my lack of empathy, or maybe it's my lack of understanding. However, I still feel intrigued by this book, because there are infinite parallels that can be drawn between Thi and I. Coach Jack always told me to be a goldfish, to forget everything that happened, the good and the bad. Negative bias didn’t start off bad. It is thought to have let us survive. After all, when a lion is running after you it doesn’t help if you forget that it will hurt you if you don’t run. But in our present day lives, there is no need for “survival”. Negative bias probably does more bad than good for us nowadays. This is why I want to have a goldfish memory for the bad, embarrassing, and sorrowful moments of my life.
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Excuse my poor writing, I have no idea what I’m talking about. I’m sorry for making you read this.
I just wanted to say that this blog was quite unique (and i liked it). You included different concepts like goldfish memory, a lion running after you, negative bias and somehow found a way to all connect it to the book that were reading. Still, I like how your blog was relatable (?) and brought a new perspective onto negative bias. I too, wish that i coud forget my bad and sorrowful moments in my life.
ReplyDeletedont worry paul, you are certainly on your way to becoming a goldfish, thats for sure! I think forgetting is not a skill we can teach ourselves-- like the game. Whenever you are reminded of the game, you have lost.
ReplyDeleteHowever, i do think its more effective to sometimes distance ourselves from our own memories, so that we can look at them objectively and not let them have such a hold on us! Looking forward to hearing you tell me the same stories about the same people 6 more times!
yikes
DeleteMmm paul lei I like how your posts are so goofy but also reflects a good point. I agree with the becoming a goldfish and forget all the bad memories view, but really memories don’t just disappear out of nowhere, unless you got amnesia. Therefore I think we should (like nicole li said) try reflecting from other povs more objectively and move on in time to not get caught up in the waves.
ReplyDeletei agree nami yang
DeleteI love how you connected the best we could do to the goldfish. very strong and powerful message and overall i love this
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