If you experienced a painful or traumatic event, would you want a pill which could lessen the bad memories of what happened? That option might soon be here because of a drug called propranolol. – “60 Minutes”, 11/26/2006
What is the old saying: “Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
My memories both haunt and sustain me. It is the effort of learning and growing from the memory of past actions that instills itself as a muse in my creative process. Would 9/11 reoccur if enough of us that chose to forget it could just pop a pill? Would we eventually dig-up another Bush boy for election if we could forget that the Iraq war has now outlasted our involvement in WWII?
I’ve been writing on the same unfinished novel for five years. The entire basis for the book is overcoming a traumatic situation. If I could just take a pill, I’m sure my life would feel more pleasant – but I didn’t actually heal. Don’t get me wrong, as you’ve read from previous blog posts, I have little trouble justifying the ability to “self-medicate”, but I’m not crazy enough to believe that process can be continuous or even… enough. That is the true purpose of the memories and the writing for me; to find a way to heal – not to forget. – DN
1 comment:
Interesting thought on pills. One should reread Huxley's "Brave New World". I like Captain Kirk's statement: We have the right to happiness, and the right to unhappiness, I choose to be unhappy and no one can take that away from me because it is a major part of who I am. Pain and sadness make up who you are just as much as happiness. Unless you are Blonde? Smooches JN
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