In the underworld or afterlife of Greek and Roman mythology, those who wanted to reach Elysium or return to the world above drank from the River of Forgetfulness, called Lethe. In our living world, we don’t have such a river. When bad things happen, we remember. Even in suppression, those bad things hide in the brain, waiting for some trigger to reconnect the neurons of memory.
Remembering the bad things is something we’re born to do. The memories serve as protection, of course, warning not to encounter something similar. So, in a sense, trying to drink from the River Lethe might not be a good thing. Popular psychology tells us repression is itself a bad thing. At the same time, that same psychology tells us that we shouldn’t dwell on the bad things in life.
What a dilemma! We don’t know whether to remember or forget. And if we concentrate on the dilemma, we stir the memories, putting distance between Elysium and us. Seems that bridging synapses is easier than bridging the Lethe.
So, we remember the bad things, and their memory keeps us from entering Elysium or returning to a time before the bad things happened. Apparently, we can never drink from the Lethe. The river is a myth. We are stuck in the reality of our personal histories.
The next time you enter an apparent underworld where forgetfulness is unattainable, recognize that in order to see the bad things that happened, you have to look back. Memory does not portray the present.
Remembering the bad things is something we’re born to do. The memories serve as protection, of course, warning not to encounter something similar. So, in a sense, trying to drink from the River Lethe might not be a good thing. Popular psychology tells us repression is itself a bad thing. At the same time, that same psychology tells us that we shouldn’t dwell on the bad things in life.
What a dilemma! We don’t know whether to remember or forget. And if we concentrate on the dilemma, we stir the memories, putting distance between Elysium and us. Seems that bridging synapses is easier than bridging the Lethe.
So, we remember the bad things, and their memory keeps us from entering Elysium or returning to a time before the bad things happened. Apparently, we can never drink from the Lethe. The river is a myth. We are stuck in the reality of our personal histories.
The next time you enter an apparent underworld where forgetfulness is unattainable, recognize that in order to see the bad things that happened, you have to look back. Memory does not portray the present.
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