Souvenirs of Mind, Souvenirs of Material

Now, some people might call “souvenirs of mind” memories. However, when it comes to my thoughts about it, when I say a souvenirs of mind, I mean a buried memory, one that is to be brought out by smell, by taste, by touch, by seeing something that reminds you of something or hearing a song that gives you a flashback. Not those easily manifested memories of who, what, where, when, why, and how, but those experiences that you forgot that you had: the smell of milky chai first thing in the morning, looking at a scarf and remembering how your friend gave it to you as you celebrated your birthday thousands of miles away from your home, the lingering smell of a lover on an old, forgotten scarf, finding a letter written to you by someone you care about and remembering detail in there, the song in a different language you first heard blasting out of car speakers, the smell of a dirt road in a foreign country, the feel of a small hand in yours, the laughter of a stranger that sounds like the laughter of a friend far away…

Some souvenirs of mind come from having souvenirs of material. A scarf (TZ). A jacket (IE). A statue or t-shirt (NI). Even a German newspaper clipping that you can’t read. All of these have memories attached to them, places that come to mind with the feel of the material, of the paper, of the soapstone.

I like material souvenirs that come from places that I haven’t been to. Postcards from France or Japan. A t-shirt and Monopoly in French from Canada. Earrings from Mexico. A purse from India. A calendar, t-shirt, or necklace from Hawaii. It sticks out in my mind when somebody takes the time to get me something when they visit somewhere. It means that I came across their mind, even for a moment as brief as the bat of a butterfly’s wing.

This is why I collect little things when I go somewhere. Even a necklace can hold a lot of power. (That may be a thinly veiled Harry Potter reference, but hey, even he had various types of souvenirs on his journey).

So even if a souvenir is small, is cheap, or even better, not material at all, it is still important to the memory of that place.

Have a great Monday!