Try to Remember…
“Oh, I just thought of a great idea. Gotta remember it!”
Is your brain swirling with amazing ideas? Then you must be an author, blogger, podcaster-a creator! We love it when a great idea pops into our minds. But, how do we corral and keep track of our “gems” before they vanish? If you are like me, you jot your fast fleeting thoughts on your phone, computer, a hotel notepad on your bedside table. If you are like Pat Rullo “shower time is always a magical brainstorming opportunity.”
I like to read historical fiction. Which got me thinking- “How did people keep track of their ideas a long time ago?” I’d be lost without a way to record my brainstorms, everything from grocery lists to recipes, to an inspirational thought. Laura, my sister and podcast partner, and I are always saying to each other, “Don’t let me forget! Remind me that I have to…I better write it down…”
So I asked author and historian P.K. Adams, “How did people in the Middle Ages record their ideas?”
Her short answer- “They didn’t.”
1,000 years ago, most people didn’t have access to any kind of writing materials. Parchment and ink were luxury items, even for those in the upper classes. And even if medieval people could get writing materials, they most likely didn’t know how to read or write.
Plus, Medieval European texts were written in Latin. It would be a few hundred years before local languages would be widely used to write, so being literate in the year 1,000 meant being able to read in Latin.
So, what did the average medieval person do to keep track of things and manage their lives?
According to P.K. Adams, “Regardless of whether you were rich or poor, historians believe people had BETTER MEMORIES before the dawn of mass literacy. All of our electronic gadgets (and hotel notepads) prevent us from exercising our memory to its full potential. So, pre-modern people memorized facts and lists in a faster and more durable manner because their lives depended on their memories.”
Interesting, right? A thousand years ago, people were better “rememberers”! I guess I should be thankful that I can still come up with ideas even though I can’t remember all of them! My advice to you is to write or record your ideas as soon as you can!
Wait…what was that great idea I had? I thought of it right as I started this post. Aagghh! I can’t remember it now!
