Meandering Memory Chain

 A memory chain is when you think of one thing, or look around the room and find one interesting object, and then you write down what that reminds you of, and then you keep free associating. So, for example, the vase with flowers reminds me of my vacation in Florida which reminds me of...  You can use down arrows to separate ideas as you add new ones to your chain. It's basically a topic generator.

As I was writing my memory chain with my graduate class on teaching writing and thinking, I purposely tried to push my thoughts away from difficult topics I had recently been thinking about. But as those dark topics seemed to command attention,  I wrote two different memory chains - one to share with my students, and one for myself. The latter is the uncensored chain that grants you freedom and allows you to be that authentic writer.

My recent personal memory chain took me from my cat Mister (my usual safe subject) to our previous cat who died a little before my mother died. Thinking about that time made me think more about my mom and the new reasons why I missed her even more now. 

And that reminded me of...other bad things... and so it went. Dealing with difficult experiences as we age is certainly not an uplifting fun topic and not something I would choose to share with my students, although I know many of my students often share difficult moments. But sometimes it's just easier to share tales about my cat Mister.