What if our cherished memories are more fiction than fact? Join me, Linden Wolfe, in this reflective episode of "Here for the Memories" as I unpack the intricacies of storytelling and memory. I challenge the common belief that hindsight is always clear, revealing how our minds can embellish or obscure our past experiences. You'll hear candid tales from my own life, filled with humor and honesty, as I grapple with my human tendencies towards forgetfulness and self-deception.
Through personal narratives and thought-provoking commentary, we'll explore why the act of recalling and sharing our stories is as much about creating a sense of self as it is about preserving the past. Together, we'll confront the uncomfortable reality that we all harbor secrets and biases that color our recollections. I invite you to join me on this journey of self-exposure, where the truth is complex, memories are malleable, and every story is a blend of reality and fiction.
What if our cherished memories are more fiction than fact? Join me, Linden Wolfe, in this reflective episode of "Here for the Memories" as I unpack the intricacies of storytelling and memory. I challenge the common belief that hindsight is always clear, revealing how our minds can embellish or obscure our past experiences. You'll hear candid tales from my own life, filled with humor and honesty, as I grapple with my human tendencies towards forgetfulness and self-deception.
Through personal narratives and thought-provoking commentary, we'll explore why the act of recalling and sharing our stories is as much about creating a sense of self as it is about preserving the past. Together, we'll confront the uncomfortable reality that we all harbor secrets and biases that color our recollections. I invite you to join me on this journey of self-exposure, where the truth is complex, memories are malleable, and every story is a blend of reality and fiction.
Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories, humor, anecdotes and commentary on social, cultural, business and religious issues. Whatever Lyndon remembers and thinks will entertain, challenge and inform is a possible subject. The collection of memories about one's life allows for the development and refinement of a sense of self, including who one is, how one has changed and what one might be like in the future.
Speaker 2:
Greetings and salutations. I'm Lyndon Wolfe and welcome to my podcast here for the memories. I'm glad you stopped by. I hope you do more often. I would probably entitle this a memcast or a podmoire. That's not going to be the title that you actually see, because AI is much smarter than I, so it has created a much better title than that. But that's what I would call it, because I see storytelling and writing as two sides of the same coin. So consider this my audio memoir, along with some random commentary on subjects that are way, far too wide. Stories, I hope, will dominate the discourse, but that demands some context and caveats.
Speaker 2:
When it comes to writing or telling stories, even life stories, they can be fact, fiction or a combination thereof. Despite what you've been told, hindsight is not always 20-20. As a matter of fact, that is one of the biggest misstatements ever. Oh, hindsight's 20-20. No, it's not. We tend to embellish or completely block events. As time marches on, we're prone to distort our memories, making them sometimes better than reality and sometimes worse. I'm sure my narratives have been affected by these human tendencies, primarily because the last time I checked, I was a human, although it might not be the intention, and most people are well-intentioned, by the way, although it may not be the intention. Memoirs are often written with a polyphonic voice. Duplicity and forgetfulness, unfortunately, are two of my natural superpowers, so I can't tell you exactly which stories fall into what category fact, fiction or a combination thereof Although I submit to you that the idea here and that's what it was just an idea is to be producing a totally reliable record. That might not always be the case. Not only is our memory often fuzzy around the edges, but we want our self-portraits to cast us in the best possible light, and subconsciously we do so. So I hesitate, because I feel a scathing conviction that's well beyond a typical conviction, a scathing conviction that this could be an exercise in rationalizing all my foibles and making me appear better than I am.
Speaker 2:
Speaking of foibles, this was supposed to be episode two, but I've already published episode two, so I've already messed up my podcast and gotten things out of order. That's a foible, and I'm prone to making mistakes almost constantly, you know. But one of the reasons we don't share everything is because the hard truth is just too inconvenient and painful to share, and as much as I've attempted to remain faithful to the facts, I know that I'm fully capable of falsehood and everyone is right. Matter of fact, I'm not even sure that last statement is true, and I believe we are all capable of distorting our past. So if you see bias, error or embellishment, I ask for your forgiveness in advance. As I would say, truth be told, we're all liars and living a lie on some level. At least be honest with yourself and silently admit you have secrets you want no one to know.
Speaker 2:
This project begs at least a couple of pivotal questions. A lot more than that, but let's keep it the two right. The first question is self-evident why write or speak your memoir? Than that? But let's keep it the two right. The first question is self-evident why write or speak your memoir? I've certainly been prodded by several people to do so, but I don't think that's a very good reason to self-mutilate by proceeding. A flagellant, not flagellants there's a big difference. Look it up. A flagellant is the last thing I want to be.
Speaker 2:
So I turned to Henry David Thoreau's answer to my objection. Moreover, he said on my side, I require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives, some such account, as he would send to his kindred from a distant land, for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been a distant land. To me, the road's always good to listen to, but I'm a nobody and everyone who knows me knows I'm a nobody. So why would a nobody craft a memoir? Because he knows he can and he knows nobody can stop him, and that's my rationale. But isn't a memoir question two a particularly self-absorbed exercise? Well, of course it is. Here. Thoreau speaks to this question.
Speaker 2:
In most books, the I or first person is omitted. In this document it will be retained. That, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person that is speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I'm confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience. This theme by the narrowness of my experience, to paraphrase, my greatest expertise is myself, and I should stay on topic in my area of expertise. So, although many, many people will be woven into my narratives, I will talk mostly about me, my life, thoughts, experiences, opinions and more. And that's all I really have, and you have that as well, latent yet screaming to be let out. May my sharing of my stuff prompt you to share yours. I'm Lyndon Wolfe. This has been here for the Memories Until we meet again, and I hope it's soon. Keep making memories.
