Memory is a tricky thing. Often I rely too much on others when trying to remember something. This was key as I wrote my writing for growth entry; my husband's notoriously random memory was key as he reread my first draft.
My major weakness with writing from memory is the order and time lapse between events. For whatever reason, I have a poor concept of time. Often I feel something happened months ago, and it may have been only two weeks. and vice versa. I struggled to remember how long it was from the time the rash started, to when I went to the doctor, to when I was done with treatments. It seemed like a really short amount of time, but my husband said it was longer that a few weeks. The best way I could remember was through the seasons, but my mind was still unreliable in that way. My husband is better at this and since we've shared over 10 years of our lives, he is generally a great partner.
When researching, however, this is when great notes will come in handy. I am sure a researcher will try to remember with limited notes (and may sometimes need to when something happens at an unexpected time) but that will lend itself to false or missing memories. Sometimes, I forget what I walked into the next room to get, so I am sure I will forget an important quote when interviewing or observing. I like staying busy, so this may be related to my skewed internal clock.
I understand now why so many researchers work in teams. It must be incredible to have a second set of eyes when observing or interviewing students. I know I've read how witnesses, though used frequently in court, are notoriously unreliable. Through this exercise I realized that I am not that reliable either with my own life events, which are supposed to be valuable to me.
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