Old Friend Reconnection.

This past week-end has been a roller-coaster of feelings and emotions triggered by sad and happy things taking place.

We went to Arizona for Thanksgiving to visit Everett's parents and on our way up we stopped to visit Sarai. We were not able to see her, but I visited with her mom for a short while. She is devastated to say the least, but has accepted the brutal reality of what it is soon to come. I am glad I saw her and very, very sad for what is happening.

In Arizona we had a great time; Everett's parents are the best cooks in the world and it was a great family time.

When we came back I reconnected with a friend whom I haven't heard of or seen for about 20 years. It took me right back to my youth and to the old group of friends that used to hang out together at the time. It took me to see what each one of them is doing today, some doing well, others not so well. Time is a weird thing. So it's our brain.

As I am writing this I am preparing for my Addiction and Recovery certification and just yesterday re-visited the difference between explicit and implicit memory. Explicit memory is the ability to recall some fact, information, or episode of life, in which you are aware that you are deliberately recalling the fact, information or episode. Implicit memories starts at birth (sometimes in-utero) and are the recorded feelings, sensations, and emotional experience associated with an event which are recalled automatically. It bypasses our pre-frontal cortex and goes straight to our limbic system, which is the "right now"part of the brain.

Certain memories, smells, feelings take us right back to being "there." When someone suffers from past trauma, one of the therapies applied is to help them recall the experience through the pre-frontal cortex having the person narrate the experience using the "thinking" part of the brain. This way it becomes a part of their life story, instead of being "felt" and re-lived and instantly being sent back to the experiential sensations of the limbic system. The hippocampus allows a memory to go from implicit to explicit.

All this to say that this weekend I went back to my past -triggered by an old friend- and it took me directly to the past bypassing my pre-frontal cortex. The memories don't have to be traumatic, but it is the traumatic ones that people need help overcoming. In a split second someone  could be sent back to their horrible experience, whatever that may be, induced by a sound or scent. This is common with our soldiers suffering from PTSD.

We have all been transported to our past, so you know what I am talking about. Now you know what is going on with your brain as well. I find it fascinating.

My friend is doing great, married for 20 years, has two more kids and living in Costa Rica with his family.