We live in a house that measures around 2000 Sq.feet...not tiny but not a McMansion by any stretch...there are only 3 of us and I am pretty organized.
So why, WHY, can't I find my green turtleneck sweater?
I'll tell you why, because I live in a state of unconsciousness ... auto-pilot so to speak.
As a female I multi-task like a whirling dervish... that's why women make such good news producers, they can write, edit, take a phone call while making a comment to someone down the hall and get the story live on the air , no problem.
It dates back to the hunter, gatherer, raise the little Neanderthals, and kick that sabre tooth in the butt, gene pool. We are meant to multi task...
which means we are masters of the dual circuitry in the brain that teaches, and moves. Cognitive and action, one takes over as needed...here I'll let the experts e'splain:
http://www.livescience.com/health/brain-habit-learning-autopilot-100609.html
Which brings me back to my green turtleneck...I know already that it's somewhere in this house, and unless the dog has decided she looks better in green than in brown, then I am the culprit.
We do so many things on auto-pilot...driving being one...how many times have you been so deep in thought as you drove to a familiar destination, to find yourself there and parked before you can blink?
How any times have you checked a email or text (that required an action from you) in the middle of doing something else, only to see it a day a later and cringe at your in-action?
Once again, we are brought back to the turtleneck; I know in the process of the mundane ( as in laundry) the mind wanders...perhaps to a sunny golf-course in a day dream, and the folding and putting away is on auto....and my concern for my green turtleneck is waylaid until I want to wear it...as in TODAY!
This is were it gets fun...
I need to retrace in my mind, the last time I wore it and if I had travelled during then and will it involve a phone call to see if I left it somewhere...once again solidifying my forgetful base.
I search all the usual places, once twice and three times until I FIND IT, right there, on top of the dryer under the mess I call my son's, I-can't-find-my-dresser-or -I-would-put-these-things-away pile....and I want you to know, I looked there two times already.
So apparently my COGNITIVE part of my brain was not in charge while my body was in ACTION on auto pilot looking for the green freakin' turtleneck.
And the lesson in all of this?
Well, it has nothing to do with memory, dear reader...
so sorry for the red herring....
Nooooo, it has to do with career choices...
because this is exactly why I do what I do and NOT work in a nuclear power facility, because you never want to hear me say...
"Did I remember to cool the rods in the core today?".
.....
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