Wednesday, February 19, 2014

dysmembering

Neologisms abound in a world running on communication that masquerades as information, that disembodied voice of reason.

"Dys" as in dysfunction.

"Membering" as in the latter part of remembering, which references 'putting together' with "re-" being 'again.'

Dysmembering is a process by which one obsesses over a remembered moment from one's past with debilitating effect upon the identity of this person.

To yell at yourself and call this self stupid for something you did, say, when you were a kid or when you were twenty or maybe when you were one week younger than today is to dysmember. It's to remember something about you in a negative light.

Dysmembering is the active process of cultivating a pathological self identity. Like memory it's a repetitive procedure of re-enactment. Like memory it cultivates a sense of who you are and what you do with the express purpose of reproducing the behaviors, remembered negatively, again and again.

Dysmembering is a pathological form of remembering.

Never forget.