As I get older I often wish I had done a better job of keeping track of things (people and events). My brother-in-law seems to be especially good at this. He has the advantage of spending his youth and his career within the same community but I think it also ties into his perspective on the world. He remembers people and events with clarity. We often joke about his ability to connect with complete strangers in a matter of moments. He’s always got a story about an old friend he’s still connected with or a new one he made at the market this morning.
Perhaps this is simply the difference between extroverts and introverts. I’m partial to the distinction that introversion/extroversion is largely about whether social interaction consumes or generates energy. I can be perfectly sociable at a party but it wears me down.
But the odd thing on my mind this morning is what I do and don’t remember. Particularly about my interactions with other people. Bookish things stick (although I seem to have forgotten the mathematics I once knew), human connections feel fuzzier. I often feel as though I’m faking it on some level. Not “imposter syndrome”; this is something different. The stories and sense memories that come so naturally to my brother-in-law take work for me. I’ve often wished for a class to teach me how to navigate the world of other humans as readily as I manage to navigate words and ideas.
I know that no such class exists other than living life itself. Doesn’t mean I still don’t wish that it did.