Memory and Persistence

Resistance

I remember reading a story about a Japanese salesman. He wanted to secure a contract with a large company. He approached the CEO of the company several times and was consistently rebuffed. Not giving up he went to the CEO's home and waited in front of the gates of the house every morning as the CEO drove out. He made the CEO aware that he was not going to give up and that he believed in his mission.

Capitulation

The CEO kept driving past for months. Finally one day the CEO stopped and roll down the window and said do you really believe your company can offer my company something of value?. The salesman naturally answered of course, at which point the CEO led him in the car and began negotiations. It ended up successfully for the salesman and both companies profited.

The CEO and Your Memory

This story reminds me of courting our own memories. You have to be patient, and persistent. You have to ask again and again and again and again before your memories will finally reveal themselves to you but if you show enough persistence you can get a high level of detail both concrete and emotional in the memories that you recover.