Directional Reminiscence

February 7, 2006 7:30 AM

Anyone ever experience this? I call it "directional reminiscence."

I've been meaning to ask this question for quite awhile so here goes. "Directional reminiscence" (what I call it) is that state of mind you're in when you travel in a certain direction. For example: If I drive west - even for a short period of time, memories of my life in Denver flood back. If I drive north, memories of growing up in Minnesota start to flood back. Basically, when I travel in a certain direction, it puts my mind back to that place and time and I almost become that person again (maybe some type of regression). The strange thing for me is that this can occur when I'm stationary (maybe not so strange). All I have to do is look up and in that general direction and I can get those same feelings/emotions. Anyone here know what I'm talking about? Is there a psychological term for this?

posted by KevinSkomsvold to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

if you're sitting around thinking "oh i'm looking/driving north" i wouldn't say it's much more than normal associative memory.
posted by soma lkzx at 8:06 AM on February 7, 2006

Are you telling me that every time you make a turn, even on your daily commute, you start thinking about all the places you've lived that are located in the direction you are driving? Or are we talking about when you take a long trip and start heading, say, north? If the latter, I'd say this is just normal association, as noted above. When I go on long trips north, west or south, I think about all the places I've been or lived in those geographical areas, but only because I have a lot of time in the car to let me mind wander.

If the former, it sounds like a compulsion or excessive rumination. Are you consistently unhappy with where you live now?
posted by spicynuts at 8:15 AM on February 7, 2006

Does it happen when you don't know what direction you're traveling in?
posted by leapingsheep at 8:24 AM on February 7, 2006

This happens to me. I don't think it has to do with the direction so much as the angle of the sun and the moon. Sometimes the sun will strike me at a certain angle or I'll see the sun striking a building at a certain angle and the light-shadow play will trigger certain memories. The same will happen with the moon and the night sky where I'll unconsciously associate a half moon low in the sky with my earlier days in New York. This happens to one other friend of mine. We've discussed it and the general consensus is that it happens to people who spent/d a lot of time walking around aimlessly.
posted by nixerman at 8:40 AM on February 7, 2006

Response by poster: Spicynuts: Nah, not that extreme. It will usually start hitting me after about 10 minutes in the car or on a walk. It's pretty insidious but still, I am aware of it.

Leapingsheep: No not at all. If I'm somewhere where I don't which way is N,S,E,W, I can feel a tinge of apprehension on my part. That seems normal and a part of the process of getting my bearings.

Nixerman - Thanks. I've never associated it with the moon/sun/angles but that is food for thought.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 8:51 AM on February 7, 2006

I don't get feelings or memories from travelling a particular direction; however, I drive my g/f nuts when i recall what direction I was facing when something happened. Like, "You remember when i told you blahblahblah? I was facing kinda north-ish, and you were to the east."

Seems like something of the same condition, manifested differently.
posted by notsnot at 10:02 AM on February 7, 2006