It has been a few years since I have been in school. I haven’t had to write assignments, read books because they are required or memorize anything more than what was written on my to do list for quite some time. For the last month I have been working on memorizing ‘Mastery’ by Stuart Emery. I had it figured that if I worked on a sentence every day, maybe two days, I could have it memorized and feel confident with repeating it when the time came. I have discovered that although my memory has never been top notch, it has gotten even a little less reliable as time goes on. I have not had the regular practice of retaining information since college, so am more than a little rusty. My methods of studying and retaining years ago don’t necessarily work anymore. I use to be able to do my studies in front of the television, with music blaring in the back ground and a group of friends visiting, all at the same time. Now I need quiet, no distractions and need to be focused and in the right frame of mind. I have a copy of Mastery taped on my bathroom mirror, so guess what I see every morning as I am getting ready or at night while I am brushing my teeth? I have recited it onto my ipod so I can listen to it on a walk, when I am in the car or just relaxing on the couch. I have made my morning walks with the dog my time to test my memory. As I pass neighbors I think to myself, they must be thinking ‘there goes that crazy woman talking to herself again’. I have found if I say it out loud it seems to stick, so the entire neighborhood may possibly know Mastery by the end of April. I am happy to say that thinking outside of the box has worked for me. I am ¾ through and am reciting in my sleep.
Alana Regier
