A3
Collective Memory
Excerpt from collection:Call it Awash: Stories and aphorisms.

such joy is interest!

what great excitement that word brings me.
there is no word like interest.

curiosity is not interest.
curiosity is a question;
interest is an inquisition.
interest is where the mind veers
when drifting.

every person has interest!
it is inherent. it is inbred.
it is this force in us
that propels us toward experiences and experiments
which lead to enjoyment,
which lead to discovery and innovation.

interest is individual.
at birth we are each interested
in the same things — these being
the core components of our survival.
but then, at some undetectable moment –
as experiences continue to arrive
and unique patterns emerge
and memories build
and forgetting begins
—our focus branches and narrows.
eventually, experiences and new information
fragment and tangent
toward individualization.

interest is the most useful tool
any person has.
it allows them to create something unique;
nothing else can do this
as reliably as interest does.

reproduction sustains humankind;
interest thrusts it forward.

however:
interest is finite.

interest cannot be generated;
it must be tapped,
like the veins of a mine.

interest is a commodity
—it is your most powerful resource.
people will try to
replace your interest
with theirs.
they want to siphon it from you,
along with your time,
and entertain you while they do.
interest is your most valuable asset;
spend it for its worth.

Ruth Crimson-Forde