Memory : Self

Drawing on entertaining and sometimes harrowing stories from his childhood, T.Collins Logan explores the structure and meaning of memory and its relationship to personal identity in his life. First he develops a simplified cognitive model of memory, integrating other memory systems - such as somatic and spiritual - into a dynamic landscape, the memory field. He then introduces an integral method of consciously influencing these memory systems over time, active memory reorganization (AMR). The main focus of the book then becomes the application of AMR to his own experiences and self-concept. T.Collins is primarily concerned with how to apply these ideas in a therapeutic context, and in particular the enhancement of self-care within the nourishment paradigm of Integral Lifework. There are plentiful examples of how AMR can influence identity, with practical tools and techniques to enhance the process. This is an excellent resource for investigating how self-concept evolves, how memory supports identity, and how to mitigate barriers to well-being through the reshaping of memory.

"My father and I used to have lively discussions about the nature and function memory, and this is mainly inspired by those years of back-and-forth.  The stories from my childhood are fragments of memoire, and readers have often told me these stories stand alone and could be a separate book in themselves.  But I wanted to include them as a way to show how groupings of memory support various themes or narratives in personal identity, and how that arrangement can be consciously changed.  In this sense AMR (Active Memory Reorganization) is not all that different from some other cognitive techniques, with one fairly significant departure:  I am trying to include additional dimensions of being in the process, such as somatic and spiritual elements that have often been either neglected or addressed as separate, independent processes.  In Memory : Self, a primary objective is to demonstrate that these processes are all interrelated...and in fact interdependent."