What were you doing when...

Living History*

Fogy hasn’t always been a history buff. What Fogy has — and has always had — is a very, very good memory.

And with that memory comes a realization: every day we live, we are living history.

But before we go any further, let me offer a personal insight.

When I first came to live in Brazil, I felt it was important to understand my adopted land. This was before the internet — yes, young GENers, there were once places called libraries where we had to go and look things up. I did what I could to learn.

Little did I know that, in 1989, I was already living through a defining moment in Brazil’s modern history — one that many of my younger students now only read about in textbooks.

And that’s how it is. We live through these moments, unaware. I spent 24 years of my life in New Zealand without this insight — largely oblivious to the major events unfolding around me, especially in the wider world. Ironically, I now know more about Brazilian history in the 20th century than about New Zealand’s, even though I lived through the latter. A little shameful, really.

But that’s life. It happens, days pass, and most of it feels... unremarkable.

Sure, if your team wins a championship, that gets bookmarked. But when nothing exceptional occurs? It fades. Unless you’re a true aficionado, most details vanish.

Mindfulness changes that. It opens up alleyways and breadcrumb trails in the mind — a way of placing markers that make our lived experience richer, more memorable.

So try it. Let your mind absorb what’s around you. You might just find you’ve boarded a jet and landed in another world.

Cheers.

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