What’s happened to the past?

Sam Smith - In a few weeks I will turn 89 which has led to some pondering about the end of life. One thing that has struck me is that when I pass so will most of what I remember. This is contrary to what many far more prominent figures think, assuming instead that they have not only made history but won’t lose it.

To test this, I recently thought of what I had heard recently about Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. My sum: very little. In fact, the New Deal and Great Society have largely disappeared not only from the daily media but from our memories and actions as well.

This has led me to redefine my past as a series of good or bad events and ideas that will largely fade away. It’s more like a movie we go to, experience strongly, and then move on to other thoughts and matters. The amount of my own past that has disappeared in my mind supports this feeling.

 As a  journalist I became used to this early. One covered a story and wrote it and then in a few days forgot about it. As a musician, I experienced something similar. While I remembered tunes and played them I soon forgot the gigs where I had done so. 

This is not something one can reform but it helps credit one’s thoughts and actions in a more accurate fashion. We are much better at doing things than remembering them. Which helps to explain why important matters – like ending ethnic bias – often don’t last as long as we expect.

So in my remaining time, I will continue to approach life as I have as a journalist: finding new ways to help revive good causes, beliefs, and behavior, partially with the hope that this time it will work better. And we won’t forget about it.