The Power of Memorization

I am trying to keep (or make) my brain sharp.

So I have been memorizing stuff. I am a few lines away from being able to recite the Desiderata. I have always loved this prose poem; now I am allowing it to infiltrate my brain. Really infiltrate my brain.

I have been simultaneously memorizing wisdom, lyrics and quotes that are meaningful to me.

Here's what I have noticed.

When I first start memorizing something, it comes down to rote repetition. I repeat the words but without inflection. Monotone. As my brain begins to hold on to the words, I make them my own, adding inflection - speaking them as if I wrote them.

Suddenly they begin to take on more meaning. A whole lot more meaning.

I have memorized Duane Allman's January 1 quote, the one I love so much - the one that has always been meaningful to me. Now it blows my mind and challenges me every time I repeat it. When I get to: "I love being alive and I will be the best man I possibly can", I get chills.

First of all, I have never thought to myself that I love being alive. I do now. Beyond that, "the best man" thing floors me because it forces me to think about my day, and almost every time, I recognize something stupid I said or did, or some situation where I fell short of what I am capable of.

It is a perfect reality check.

John O'Donahue's line: "You come home to yourself and learn to rest within." Chills. I speak those words reverently. Especially now, because it feels like that is exactly what I am learning to do.

From "Love Rescue Me" by U2: "I've conquered my past, the future is here at last, I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see, the ruins to the right of me, will soon have lost sight of me, love rescue me."

Aspiration, baby. This is where I am headed if I keep doing what I am doing.

And The Desiderata. Heavy duty, baby.

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence."

"Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass."

"Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself."

"And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul."

Are you kidding me? I recite these words out loud and achieve instantaneous peace.

Memorization is another thing I chose to do that has turned into pure magic. It's all coming together.

I feel good.