When I was a kid, I didn't get in trouble because I was noisy or disruptive in class... I got in trouble because I would repeatedly be caught daydreaming and staring blankly out the window, when I *should* have been paying attention.

![0459-PineSunset.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23uaPXs2DojJnyx1tDgX2RfXCBBhBF2Y83zsuh2z2WN9AAHuATiKinsGYRVZW5iAR94nc.jpg)

Some 50 years later, I *still* find myself daydreaming and staring out the window, on a regular basis.

These days, the tendency to *"drift off"* is typically triggered by music that reminds me of a different place and time... and I have never been very good at *"ignoring"* the pull, when it comes. 

For convenience's sake, modern psychology likes to label my state of being *"ADHD — inattentive,"* a label I *understand* but don't necessarily agree with being a *"problem."*

Let's just say that I have always had a very *"active inner world."*

![0441-Grasses.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/EpLgR3fCh9p72kUejQDgy8xNRBspThhmfDYFJp3rSTM4Xhv8atPT7zzEQAZGfPtCH7a.JPG)

When I was little, my tendency to drift away was almost invariably inspired by a combination of *helplessness* and wishing I were pretty much somewhere *other* than right here, right now.

The trouble with having *"absent and/or unavailable"* parents is that you typically end up having to *"create your own content"* to entertain yourself.

Since we spent so much time moving around and traveling to foreign countries *(Denmark was really "home, in name only")* the idea of *"running out into the neighborhood and causing a ruckus"* wasn't generally an *option,* so I'd retreat inside my head... constructing my own impressions of a world that felt better to live in.

It was a coping mechanism. It worked. I made it to adulthood without going to jail *or* (seriously) attempting suicide.

![0410-BigSur2011.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/denmarkguy/23xySqKjxHtG6vYwzgqXkBMYMYHifRsByHgCtQZaJYAcC5TR99ULB44Fnv3TXUbidmXn9.jpg)
*Mrs. Denmarkguy watching the sunset, Big Sur, California, circa 2005*

*"Aural memories"* are actually among the strongest we have. We tend to remember the *sound* of something, someplace, sometime, quite clearly.

But sometimes the sound that sends us time traveling is actually a *trick* of the mind. Consider for example that the song in the following YouTube clip was written and released *last year* but sets off a whole series of *"time traveling"* memories related to the time right after I graduated from University... 1985. 

Strange, isn't it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-tgkV2L3s

The human mind is a strange and wonderful thing!

Sometimes I find myself drifting off and realize that I am actually longing for a time and experience *that never happened;* someone I knew recently but who vanished into thin air... and I *"miss"* our time together when we were in our 20s — which actually *never happened.*

It's tempting to think I might be *mental,* but there's actually a word for what I just described: *"Anemoia."* 

I sometimes speculate on why I tend to *"go there,"* rather often. The best explanation I have heard is that those whose lives have been beset by struggle, hardship and disappointment tend to seek a sort of *"emotional refuge"* in the memories of small islands of joy they experienced.

Makes sense to me.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your week!

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Created at 2023-01-17 00:48 PST*
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