WHAT CONNECTS US TO THE PAST

[Michael Grove]

Perhaps by the senses we ARE able to activate ...

I AM in Istanbul on my way to Astana the capital of Kazakhstan. I stopped

for few days to acclimate myself to the time changes and so as not to arrive

for a consulting assignment with my client feeling like a zombie. As

expected, I cannot sleep. And when I cannot sleep I read and write and

think. All of which usually leads to insights. This time my thoughts turned

to the past; more specifically, to ideas about what connects us to our past.

The answer seemed suddenly obvious. Memories.

In the Jewish tradition, it is interesting that learning was associated with

something sweet. There was a sweet reward for learning.  Thus, learning

was not to be remembered as something negative, but positive, and we

became a nation of lifetime learners. When we raise our children today and

want to create a future memory for them, perhaps the best strategy is to

activate their senses. After all, we remember our mother who may be long

since gone by the comfort food she fed us. And if our father used to yell

at us, that tone of voice probably still haunts us today, evoking the same

discomfort felt as a child.

So we have a choice. How do we want to remember?

Or how do we want to be remembered ?

Perhaps by the senses we ARE able to activate.

Just thinking.

Ichak Kalderon Adizes

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