Eternal Sunshine

How happy is the blameless Vestal’s lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sun-shine of the spotless mind! Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resigned. ---Alexander Pope Last night, a friend and I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Eternal Sunshine is the story of erasing bad memories. In the movie, there is a clinic a person can go to when they want to rid themselves of a bad experience, or a person who has hurt them. This clinic will go into your brain and take out the memories that you no longer wish to have.

It made me think. It made me wonder if there are any memories or people that I would erase from my brain if I could. I have had bad moments, and people in my life. My initial impulse would be that I would definitely erase them given the opportunity. But then I think about what it would be like if I didn't have those memories.

If they were completely erased from my brain, then the lessons that I learned from them would probably also be gone. And I have grown so much through the bad memories. They hurt, a lot. There were times in my life that I wasn't always sure I would get over them. But time heals. And we grow.

And some of the people who hurt me the most are also the same people who gave me great memories. Who taught me what it was like to love and be loved. They taught me that I can get through hard times. And how to forgive. They gave me the opportunity to rely on my friends, and to forge bonds with people that I might not have otherwise.

So, yes, the ability to erase bad memories from my mind is alluring. But I think I would be much more shallow and weak and less confident if I erased every bad memory or experience from my brain.