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Should Memories Be Cleared?

“Memory, whether sweet or bitter, hurts.” Dostoevsky

Sometimes you want to turn a white page, be reborn and realize your ideals. As you open this new page, you may also need to clear the memories you have accumulated over the years. Otherwise, you will continue to live in the past, you cannot make future plans, and more importantly, you cannot use the “moment” efficiently.

As Dostoevsky very well put it, “Memory, whether sweet or bitter, is painful.” Indeed it is… The bitter ones are already painful, everyone agrees on that… But sweet memories are sometimes more painful.

It often causes a ache in our hearts, as we will not be able to experience the sweet ones again and the bitter ones cannot be erased.

We suffer the most when we lose our father, mother, relative, friend or confidant. Because we share many memories and shares with them.

A song you hear, a meal you eat, or the environment you are in. It may mean nothing to others, but it can create a pang in your soul. This pain is either bitter or sweet, coming from the past and taking you back to those days, either by a relative or a loved one. It’s almost like traveling in time.

I wonder if the memories that will be animated with the metaverse and provide a three-dimensional experience will be even more painful?

Memories can create prejudice in people. Memories from bad experiences spoil your psychology. Those that come from good experience can lead to vulnerability and imprudence.

Memories are often modified in our brain. Over time, we add different meanings, and the rest has little to do with the original. Therefore, different people describe the same event in different ways. That’s why the testimonies of very old forensic cases are discussed from time to time. Maybe that’s why the “timeout” exists.

There are those who say that beautiful moments are immortalized for memories. They call it saving memories. However, they cannot live the “moment” for the sake of saving the moment…

Memories, from one angle, are more of you, and from another, it’s like looking at it from the outside…

Memories can cause mood and occupy the heart unnecessarily. For this reason, it has been suggested in mystical upbringing to avoid all kinds of habits that would turn the devotee away from Allah. Therefore, memories should not be scattered all over our lives. At the very least, the memories to be kept should bring them closer to Allah.

“If you carry the cloud of where you come from, you cannot see the sun of where you are going.” Tayfun Topaloğlu emphasizes that memories reduce human productivity.

Nietzsche’s “He who forgets, heals”. Doesn’t the word mean that memories make you sick?

Most of today’s memories are made up of gifts and huge digital archives adorning tables or shelves. If you can’t get rid of them or worry about regretting them after a while, it’s best to pack them without much hassle and keep them out of easy reach. Make sure that most people won’t need to open those packages once in a decade.

This method is an effective way to get rid of any excess as well as memories. I have personally been using this method for years and I have personally experienced that it works very well. These days, with the white paper decision, I went into a more radical cleaning of goods and souvenirs. You are tremendously relieved. Your heart and mind are emptying, you get the opportunity to fill it with better things.

A white page is good to be able to write brand new things like pearls on it, and it is necessary to do this and be reborn at certain periods in our lives. “Don’t be afraid to start over. This time, you do not start from scratch, you start from experience…” as Hz. Mevlana said, “Everything belonging to yesterday has gone with yesterday. Today we have to say something new.”

Aykut GÜL

Note: This is the English version of the article titled “Hatıralar Temizlenmeli mi?” published on Medium by Aykut GÜL.