Its funny how some memories fade over time while others stick around. So much that feels so important at the time seems to just slip away, while the most inconsequential things stick around. There’s even an expression for those things that never seem to leave you, like riding a bike. For some reason, you never forget how to ride a bike, even if you go years in between practice. It’s not like other physical skills that fade with time. Like today I relearned a song I had forgotten I ever knew called ‘Slow Cheetah,’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was so weird trying to recapture the muscle memory for something I vividly remembered practicing (after I heard the song come up in my Spotify playlist that is), but couldn’t for the life of me recall how to actually play. Once I got the hang of it again it came back much quicker than learning it the first time, but those first fifteen minutes felt totally unfamiliar. Not at all like riding a bike, which I haven’t felt uncomfortable on since I was a kid. I wonder if there are some things about writing that I’ve forgotten by now that I’d have to completely relearn, or if I’ve kept practicing long enough now to keep it all fresh. Somehow, I feel like something must have slipped through the cracks at some point, right? Maybe it’s time to go through the basics one more time.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley