The Beauty in Forgetting

Today, I am going to the space museum with my family. Technically, given that it's the California Science Center, the museum's got to do with more things than space, but we're going to see the Endeavor space shuttle, and they do have an air and space section, apparently. So I expect to see space sorts of things.

Even though I'm a science fiction writer (or perhaps because I'm a science fiction writer), I take an interest in actual science and while I'm really awful at retaining what I've learned, I enjoy learning about it. You see, I have a problem: my memory is so awful that it's difficult for me to learn things. (I'm currently in college and I have no idea how I'm able to pass my classes, much less with the kind of good grades I pass with.) The possibly nice thing about learning something and forgetting it, however, is that I get to learn it all over again. Say I learn about how galaxies are believed to be held in place by the gravity of a supermassive black hole in their centers - I learn that, think, "Oh, that's so cool!" and forget it. But I hear it again, think, "Oh, that's so cool!" and maybe I forget it again, maybe I don't, but I've been exposed to a really amazing fact and it's amazing both times. (Incidentally, the thing about supermassive black holes is one of the few actual astronomy facts I CAN remember.)

This reminds me of the story of the old man with Alzheimers' who forgot who his wife was, but he saw her every day when she visited the rest home he lived in, and every day, he fell in love with her and told her he wanted to marry her. When she said they were already married, he thought that was the most wonderful thing in the world. But because he forgot her, he could fall in love with her every time they met again. I'm not saying that's a beautiful or ideal love story (it's really quite sad) but there's a bit of beauty in it because what could have solely sad or unfortunate also allowed for the constant rediscovery of something that truly was beautiful.

Most likely this trip to the science center will result in me remembering things that I learned in school or from books or even just from hearing them from knowledgeable people, things I'd forgotten due to my inability to retain information. Everything I learn, whether I knew and forgot it or if I truly didn't know it before, will be beautiful and new again, and I think that's wonderful.