I did not think that at the grand old age of 33 one of my main worries in life would be that I was losing my memory.

I’ve always been aware that my memory isn’t the best, and throughout my twenties I put it down to the amount of alcohol consumed at uni. However, I don’t drink anywhere near as much now, so that is no longer a valid excuse. Here are a couple of recent examples of how my memory has let me down.

  • For part of my brother’s birthday present I bought him what I considered to be a really thoughtful gift – the DVD of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (which I also mentioned in our Guilty Pleasures post last week – do read the comments if you haven’t done so, they were just brilliant!). We used to watch it when we were younger and would find it hilarious. So I was mortified when he told me that I had now bought him the same present for two years running. Even as I type, my memory is failing me – was it two years running or three?
  • The other week I got chatting to a German lady at a playgroup. I mentioned that I had lived in Germany a few years ago. When she asked me whereabouts, I could not for the life of me remember the name of the town (Bayreuth) and ended up blurting out “Freiburg”. I knew as soon as I said it that it was wrong but it was too late to correct myself. I would have looked either extremely dense, which I possibly am, or like a big fat liar. It got worse. She was excited to tell me that there was another mum at the playgroup who was actually from Freiburg and took me over to her to introduce us, and I had to keep up this ridiculous pretence of having lived in Freiburg.

And it seems I’m not the only one. Stylish-Susan-from-the-office tells me that her cousin calls her ‘The Life-Ruiner’ because she can’t remember all the childhood experiences they shared. And one of the girls from my netball team actually went to see a doctor because she was so concerned about her memory, only to forget to ring up to get the results of the blood test…

I can’t help thinking that part of the reason my brain is turning to mush is due to my reliance on technology. It’s a vicious circle – I rely on notes and reminders on my iphone but it’s probably because of these apps that my brain is getting lazy and not having to retain information. Similarly, I use the camera on my phone on an almost-daily basis, but research tells me that if I want to remember experiences then I should be putting the smartphone away.

Are you worried about the state of your memory? Do you, like me, often find yourself in a room having completely forgotten why you went in there, or get back from the supermarket sans the one item you intended to buy?

And if you want to see more of the beautiful abode in the header image, you can find the home tour here.