The power of sound to bring back memories

I was reminded about the power of sound to bring back memories. Today I had a standard MRI - it’s a thing I get every year for a checkup, and as I was lying there in the dark with my headphones on daring not to move, I was listening to the radio and Jack Johnson came on. It sent me back in time to when my two were little and loved Curious George and loved looking over Lego catalogues for hours together, sitting on the couch or in each other's bedrooms pondering over all these Lego kits. It was such a lovely trip down memory Lane. A little bittersweet because they're both a lot bigger now - they're both taller than my husband and I - but it showed me the power of music and sound, and then I thought about the other senses, taste and smell, and touch, and how they store all these memories for us.

It also reminded me that we don't always have to keep objects around our house, we don’t have to fill our homes with things from people that we've lost or times that have passed. There are so many other ways that memory is stored.

One of my treasures is a recipe. It’s for apple crumble. I use a recipe I was given 20 years ago by my husband’s aunt, and every time I make it, it takes me back to when we visited her in Canada and her twin boys. I think they must’ve been like 2 or 3 years old.  They had constructed this whole obstacle course that ended up with them launching themselves onto the couch – like little Supermen in flight. It was hilarious! And so joyful.

Music and food. Such simple yet powerful things. And a beautiful way to store memories – and they show that it doesn't require us to keep homes filled with objects of times from the past or people that have gone just so we can remember. We can be safe to let go of something. You've got all these other senses that help you remember as well.