Remembering, Forgetting, and the Place Inbetween

To Remember - have in or be able to bring to one's mind an awareness of (someone or something that one has seen, known, or experienced in the past): 

To Forget - put out of one's mind; cease to think of or consider:

The other day in our Capstone class, we were asked by Sarah Ray, “What is it that gives you motivation, hope, and inspiration to continue our journey towards helping each other and this planet, and how are you going to find and feed that in your capstone experience?”. I didn’t share my thoughts, but it wasn’t because I didn’t want to or because they weren’t developed enough. The truth is, I am filled with hope by the beautiful people around me, in this major and outside of it. In that moment I was hungry to listen, listen to the thoughts of those who inspire me, those who are the paths of MOST resistance. I was ready to absorb their words and allow their thoughts to remind me of why I am here, in my last semester at HSU, majoring in Environmental Studies. A major that is a roller-coaster ride of emotions, positionalities, and revelations; both personal and global. But even after four semesters of being enveloped in the teachings, writings, and challenges inspired by some of the most prominent and active thinkers in this all-encompassing discipline, I feel like I have forgotten so much about myself, the world, and the importance of this work.

               And that’s the delicate dance. How do we, as individuals and as communities, find balance between remembering the best parts of life, knowing what terrible things to remember, and which to forget? I know forgetting is often thought of as unintentionally failing to remember, but I believe it can also be conducted with intention. The same goes for remembering. We can remember by pure chance, neurons firing so randomly that moments of our lives are recalled instantly and for no apparent reason. This is the remembering I and most of us experience the most. But what about intentionally remembering the things we unintentionally forgot? Now that is rare, and it is rare because it is difficult. Amidst the difficult subject we learn about in this major, facing the reality of our social, political, and economic climate dominated by fear-mongering, greed, oppression, and excess, and our own personal health, we need to REMEMBER those things that make life worth living.

               Howard Zinn in his piece “The Optimism of Uncertainty” says something that struck a deep chord in me. He wrote, “One semester, when I was teaching, I learned that there were several classical musicians signed up in my course. For the last class of the semester I stood aside while they sat in chairs up front and played a Mozart Quartet. Not a customary finale to a class in political theory, but I wanted the class to understand that politics is pointless if it does nothing to enhance the beauty of our lives. Political discussion can sour you. We needed some music.” This statement basically summarizes my entire experience studying Environmental Studies thus far. We learn about things hidden behind dark veils, narratives and real-life stories told by people that society ignore or aren’t even aware exist. We have realizations that rock us to the core, and while doing so bring many things, hidden deep within us, up to the surface. Where we have no choice but to confront them with courage. Face them or accept that ignorance is bliss.

               Despite this, what we learn can also be used as a tool, as fuel. Fuel to, like Zinn said, “enhance the beauty of our lives.” If we only see it and use it as something that creates grief and bitterness, resentment of our mistakes as a species, as something that divides us, then we are seeing it all wrong. YES, it can do those things to us, and rightly so, its depressing. But, if we see it with a different eye, an eye that peers through the darkness to a world of endless beauty and love, then we can use it to better ourselves and the world. So, I challenge you all, remember what makes your live better. Intentionally recall every single good thing that has happened to you, all the people that have loved you and felt that love reciprocated. Every……single………….beautiful and loving event or memory, place or person, trial and triumph. And know my friends, what to forget. Like the sourness you’ve felt because of the weight of our world. For it can be light as a feather, only if you let it.