As I mentioned earlier, I am a total newbie at all things memory-related. I’ve read a bunch of books, but at this point, I have not yet started training my brain in anything. In pondering exactly what I’d like to put in my brain, one of the things that keeps coming back to me is that my autobiographical memory is severely deficient and that I feel sad that I can remember so little about my life. Have any of you tried actually training this aspect of your memory, and how would one go about such a thing?
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Sorry, I didn’t see your post here until now. I just posted some related links here: Autobiographical Memory Recall - #2 by Josh
I’m actually about 9 months into a “remembering each day that passes” project, which is a transformative experience. I’m following Lembran Sar’s example. It’s amazing what a difference it has made so far.
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Can you describe what changes in your life you experience since starting the project? 
Did it only affect your memory or do you also notice other changes?
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Well, I was starting from a place of very deficient autobiographical memory, meaning that I had to fake my way through any sort of “Remember when …?” conversations. I’m not clinically deficient, and I do remember some stuff, but the average person remembers a lot more.
I feel a lot more certain about things now and I can easily hold my own in a “Remember when” conversation. I have a pretty good grasp of the stuff that is important to me that happened in the past 9 months, and I have noticed a few times that now when a reminiscence conversation starts, I remember more than other people. I feel more grounded in reality and more sure of myself.
It’s also come in very handy for illness-related things; I had a bit of a health-related thing last year that I needed to see a doctor about, and I could easily rattle off the dates of symptom onset and exactly what I experienced. I know exactly when we all got our COVID vaccinations without having to look it up. That sort of thing.
And just in general, the ability to remember the mundane, unimportant moments, and the fact that I will now carry them with me instead of letting them disappear. An interesting cloud formation that caught my eye; the friendly stray cat we encounter on our daily walks; a cute thing my daughter said. I can’t remember this sort of stuff from before July 9, 2021 - some stuff maybe, but most of it is gone forever.
I highly recommend this sort of thing to anyone. It’s life-changing.
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