Week 4 Blog Question

Option One: Drawing on Proust’s Madeleine Episode, revisit your “out of the blue” memory from the beginning of class. Would you now describe the memory as voluntary or involuntary? Why so?

The memory that came to my mind at the beginning of class was a day I had spent at the lake with a friend of mine a few years back. For some reason I remember the way my hair lay on my shoulders, the warmth, and the purple bathing suite I was wearing. I remember sitting on the front of my friend’s paddle board with my legs in the ice cold water, as she guided me through how to use it. The goose bumps on my legs, and the slight anxiety I had about standing up on the board. I attempted to operate the stand up paddle board for the first time that day. I looked off in the distance at a small island just off the shore, and felt a rush of calm. I was then able to stand up, and although it was awkward, paddle boarded successfully for the first time. It was a very pleasant, and exhilarating memory.   

“And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom , my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane.” (paragraph 6)


            I would say the memory is not consciously voluntary, but I did need to remember a memory that arrives “out of the blue” for this activity. This particular memory may have appeared in my mind for several reasons, one of which may be the feeling of my hair on my shoulders. It was particularly long in my memory, and it was rather hot that day. The insulated heat and the feeling from my hair being down in class may be what activated the memory. It was also summer time in my memory, and it was quite warm in the classroom, so that sensory feeling may have inspired the remembrance as well. My emotional memory of that day mirrored my current mood, and could explain why it came to mind so easily. 

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