Past & Memory

We create the history we wish to believe.

A wise man was once reputed to have said that.
I don't know if I should believe it because many
fools have attributed such statements to unnamed
wise men in order to give credence to their own
words. I ask myself if it is true, however. How
many of the events of this world do we take on
the word of others? Most, I would imagine. It is
foolish to think we could verify all things in this
world but some we can at least take on the account
of those who were there. On a smaller level we
do this in our lives. How much of our lives do we
truly remember? Think of that for a moment.
Multiply that by countless humans living and dead
and you can begin to see the problem. I wonder
how much of my own life I cannot recall. My own
birth, for one. But who would expect that or want
to in any case? As we live and move forward in
this life we create gilded coverings for our memories.
The past becomes an amalgam of truth and fiction.
We are the authors and audience of this. As time
passes these thoughts become codified in our minds
as gospel. Is it possible to live without this occurring?
I imagine that it might be possible but I cannot say
definitively that it can. We sit and think of these
things and cannot give ourselves an answer.
If there were an answer would it be one that we
could trust? Do you trust yourself to tell your
own story as honestly and truthfully as possible?