blogging brain memory fog

I started blogging, like many people, to record the details of my life, and to be able to reflect on things as they occurred to me.  Blogging is like meditation -- by being present in the moment and reflecting on it, we hope to gain some insight or knowledge from it (or at least I do).

But after a couple years of recording my days somewhat regularly, I sometimes go back and re-read passages and have almost no recollection of the events or feelings I am describing.  This is to be expected, I guess.  If I didn't write these fleeting momentary thoughts down they would be completely forgotten almost as soon as I had them.  Generally, what I'm capturing are temporal states of mind that aren't meant to last.

However, I think blogging is also screwing with my long-term memory. 

Either that or I'm just getting old and senile. I used to have a great memory.  I'd remember details, at least around big events (weddings, births, birthdays, first day of school, Sept. 11th. etc) that many people couldn't. Now, I can't even remember that stuff -- unless I've recorded it in my blog, that is.   

What I'm wondering is, by writing details down and then mentally releasing them, am I losing the ability to keep these details in my memory? 

I'll give you an example: Last year, for my son's birthday, I hosted a party at a playgym and then had folks back to my house for Texas Hold 'Em -- the day BEFORE the Open House for our old place.  That these two things occurred side-by-side were very stressful for me, and yet, if I hadn't read it in my blog, I wouldn't have really remembered much about the party or the Open House or that I was crazy enough to schedule them so close together.

Is my poor memory just a natural result of aging or a side-effect of blogging?  Am I trying to record too much detail -- maybe much more than my brain can even handle?  Has anyone else observed this blogging brain memory fog or is this specific to me? 

I am aware that perhaps my memory was never as good as I thought (holding on to only small key events and details) and I simply wasn't aware of that until I started methodically recording the minutia of my life.

Comments

[Li]

first, my memory has been selective for quite a long time...I'm okay with that since most of the stuff I ejected was shit. and more recently I at times can't remember why I enter a room. but, as for the stressful event thing I think it is simply that...we get rid of the stuff that is too much, blogged or not. And the fact that you do blog about such events is a testimony to your dedication or perhaps self-abusive nature.

[Erika]

That reminds me of the people say that you lose part of your brain "with the placenta" when you give birth... does it ever come back???

;)