Do you ever have flashbacks? Like when an old song comes on the radio and suddenly you remember where you were the first time you heard it? Or maybe a smell drifts across your nose and magically you are transported back to your childhood? I have those all the time. When I hear almost any song my Bryan Adams I remember laying on the floor of my bedroom, pining away about all my tweenage worries. When I smell an old diesel car’s fumes, I feel like I am back in Colombia during one of the many summers I spent there as a child. These flashbacks are fun to recall.
Other memories are more powerful, though. Like lessons I learned as a kid or teenager that I wish I could pass on to my kids, as well as experiences I went through that I want to share with my sister, who is experiencing them now. Recently, I have had a couple family members tell me that my sister believes we have little in common. I want so desperately to have this close, amazing “like sisters” friendship with her. But she is 10 years younger than me and so if she thinks we have little in common, I guess that creates a divide between us. But I feel like memories and flashbacks can connect us, not only to our past, but also to others in the present.
Therefore… I think it would be fun to start a weekly series where we share our flashback moments. No matter what age you are, you always have a past, a “when I was younger” memory. Ex: My 3 year old told me today “remember when I was a baby and I used to say “wahh! I want my mook!” (aka milk)” See? (And I doubt anyone reading this is 3 years old, so you know you’ve got at least a few more years on her that you could draw memories from to share with us all, LOL) So let’s share our flashbacks to connect and encourage each other, young and old. Maybe some wisdom will be gleaned from them, or even just some laughs. Either way, it will be fun!
To start, I am beginning with my obsession over remembering memories. Since I was a kid I was obsessed with making sure I would remember something. Since I learned to write, I have kept a diary. I know most girls did, so this is nothing revolutionary. However, my reason for keeping it might have been different than most: I wanted to make sure I remembered my childhood and teenage years because I felt like grown-ups forgot all about theirs. I didn’t want to be that grown-up. As a teenager especially, I felt like adults always bunched us all into one group (“TEENAGERS!”) left it at that. They assumed we were all disrespectful, lazy and careless. I wanted PROOF that I wasn’t, not just for me or my kids when I had them, but for “the rest of the world”, LOL, whatever that meant! No, seriously… I felt it was my duty to show the world all teens weren’t bad. In fact, I believed then (and I still do) that teens are actually pretty powerful young men and women. They have insatiable appetites for creativity and this easily leads to problem solving. What would happen if we challenged teens to do something good with this creative energy, instead of assuming that they want to do the worst with it? I think there would be no stopping them.
Guess what? I still have all those diaries! The other day I was reading the one I started when I was 6. It cracks me up! I will have to try and scan some of those pages and post them. But the funny thing is, I remember writing those entries! I remember how I felt & what I was thinking when I wrote those entries! So I think we should all keep a diary! We should encourage our kids to do it, and if we don’t already, we should do it! I can’t wait for my kids to read my thoughts I wrote when I was their age. I can’t wait to talk to them about the similarities they see between our thoughts and feelings, and the connection we will form by discovering those bonds. I will be sure to share about this experience when it occurs. ; )
SOOOO…. Share with me yours! Tell us what you remember thinking about "grown-ups" when you were a kid or teen. Comment below, or link up to your post about your flashback.
It will be fun to read all about our childhood memories and see what similar experiences (or drastically different ones?) we have!
Look forward to reading them!!
