What a compelling read that twists my thoughts into a pretzel! This is one I will save to read and reread. This raises such complexity about memory that my head’s on a swivel. No more comments till at least two more reads!! One of the best AOTD I’ve read!!! Thanks so much for posting!!!
The nuances and complexities examined here regarding memory are Outstanding! What a Fascinating Character study of central figure Beth that reads Balanced and Open without biased judgement.
At some point I imagine we all come to a healing point in certain mysterious and traumatic past experiences plagued with missing puzzle pieces and unanswered questions that our clearest present reality and most sane future relies on letting go and surrendering the loose ends of memory that we will never fully grasp no matter how bad we want to in order to solve inceptional existential mysteries.
Years ago I had to finally surrender figuring out a confusing and chaotic experience during a traumatic year for us all: fall 2001. Post 9-11. My parents divorcing. A disturbing road trip with Mom. My plan to first move away from home. All of it culminated in an explosion of stress and anxiety manifest. I was walking a desperate line of determining which parent to trust and why my mother was suddenly seeming to have a breakdown. I would share the traumatic road trip experience (pre/during/after) attempting to suss out answers...like I could align the Rubik’s Cube perfectly. Each time I shared the story I would get more and more triggered until finally in 2012 I realized that story was going to eat my sanity alive with paranoia and endless pain if I didn’t relinquish the narrative. I did... and in the years since I have stopped questioning which parent was to blame for what and just allowed closure of loose ends and acceptance and forgiveness with both of them.
I have experienced other torment with past memories where I was creating a victim mentally where I wasn’t a victim simply based on thoughts.
Additionally, I also have had to let go of complex questions and mysteries I experienced in a torrential fashion when losing a best friend to an overdose whom I Never Imagined We would lose in that way. It really opened my eyes to how little he and I spoke of his addiction when we shared time together versus just having fun and celebrating his sobriety...I finally had to let go of the torment of questioning the former and extend my joy over the latter. To share his life story and hear his life story shared keeps him alive. I struggled with memory in the wake of losing him for a while. I still plan to share his poetry here (with his fam’s permission) and road trip to Moab and Utah National Parks in his honor in the near future.
There is so much substance in this read to absorb and really sit with. Controversial substance worth paying attention to.
In closing, I can’t help wondering if Loftus was somehow a real life inspiration for Graham Moore’s central character Maya Seale in his Incredible Modern Classic Legal thriller, The Holdout:
In this twisty tale from Moore (The Sherlockian), the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game, young juror Maya Seale is convinced that African American high school teacher Bobby Nock is innocent of killing the wealthy white female student with whom he appears to have been involved and persuades her fellow jurors likewise. Ten years later, a true-crime docuseries reassembles the jurors, and Maya, now a defense attorney, must prove her own innocence when one of them is found dead in Maya's room.
Much like this article, this novel boldly dares to confront controversial themes and presents complex characters and moral situations. Prior to the pandemic it was supposed to be turned into a tv series or miniseries. Something about this read brings this book to mind.
10 Read - this AOTD. A Deep Dive.
Update (4/23/2021):
This read also reminds me of the first read I ever read from this Incredible Fella We All Know and Love. The naked vulnerability and centered integrity and undeniable talent Clear As Day.
Thanks for sharing, it’s a way to make a connection and even to bring this story more alive. Someone wise once said, Life is a series of letting go. I have found that to be true. And the Buddhists say that it’s our holding on, our grasping, that causes the suffering. I feel that truth also. When I’m confused about something, I don’t go to my mind, because it wants to keep me safe and in the familiar. Trauma is stored within the body. Bodywork, Breath-work, meditation and heart center inquires are good access points.
Really excellent article! Lots of fascinating details from a legal/scientific standpoint, woven together nicely with some intense personal struggles.
What a compelling read that twists my thoughts into a pretzel! This is one I will save to read and reread. This raises such complexity about memory that my head’s on a swivel. No more comments till at least two more reads!! One of the best AOTD I’ve read!!! Thanks so much for posting!!!
The nuances and complexities examined here regarding memory are Outstanding! What a Fascinating Character study of central figure Beth that reads Balanced and Open without biased judgement.
At some point I imagine we all come to a healing point in certain mysterious and traumatic past experiences plagued with missing puzzle pieces and unanswered questions that our clearest present reality and most sane future relies on letting go and surrendering the loose ends of memory that we will never fully grasp no matter how bad we want to in order to solve inceptional existential mysteries.
Years ago I had to finally surrender figuring out a confusing and chaotic experience during a traumatic year for us all: fall 2001. Post 9-11. My parents divorcing. A disturbing road trip with Mom. My plan to first move away from home. All of it culminated in an explosion of stress and anxiety manifest. I was walking a desperate line of determining which parent to trust and why my mother was suddenly seeming to have a breakdown. I would share the traumatic road trip experience (pre/during/after) attempting to suss out answers...like I could align the Rubik’s Cube perfectly. Each time I shared the story I would get more and more triggered until finally in 2012 I realized that story was going to eat my sanity alive with paranoia and endless pain if I didn’t relinquish the narrative. I did... and in the years since I have stopped questioning which parent was to blame for what and just allowed closure of loose ends and acceptance and forgiveness with both of them.
I have experienced other torment with past memories where I was creating a victim mentally where I wasn’t a victim simply based on thoughts.
Additionally, I also have had to let go of complex questions and mysteries I experienced in a torrential fashion when losing a best friend to an overdose whom I Never Imagined We would lose in that way. It really opened my eyes to how little he and I spoke of his addiction when we shared time together versus just having fun and celebrating his sobriety...I finally had to let go of the torment of questioning the former and extend my joy over the latter. To share his life story and hear his life story shared keeps him alive. I struggled with memory in the wake of losing him for a while. I still plan to share his poetry here (with his fam’s permission) and road trip to Moab and Utah National Parks in his honor in the near future.
There is so much substance in this read to absorb and really sit with. Controversial substance worth paying attention to.
In closing, I can’t help wondering if Loftus was somehow a real life inspiration for Graham Moore’s central character Maya Seale in his Incredible Modern Classic Legal thriller, The Holdout:
Much like this article, this novel boldly dares to confront controversial themes and presents complex characters and moral situations. Prior to the pandemic it was supposed to be turned into a tv series or miniseries. Something about this read brings this book to mind.
10 Read - this AOTD. A Deep Dive.
This read also reminds me of the first read I ever read from this Incredible Fella We All Know and Love. The naked vulnerability and centered integrity and undeniable talent Clear As Day.
😉
This prismatic writer’s Best Is Yet To Be:
https://billloundy.substack.com/p/im-done-with-truth?r=rilo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy
Thanks for sharing, it’s a way to make a connection and even to bring this story more alive. Someone wise once said, Life is a series of letting go. I have found that to be true. And the Buddhists say that it’s our holding on, our grasping, that causes the suffering. I feel that truth also. When I’m confused about something, I don’t go to my mind, because it wants to keep me safe and in the familiar. Trauma is stored within the body. Bodywork, Breath-work, meditation and heart center inquires are good access points.
Memories are ever changing things. Ask the same person how they met their significant other over time and you can get very different answers.
Really powerful read - mind bending. Thanks for posting and shaking it up!
Beyond a 10 - compelling.