Holding Time in a Capsule

    You know how some people like collecting celebrity's hair and spit and tissues?  Those people have some serious issues.  They are so obsessed, or "in love", with those celebrities that they never knew personal that they will do anything in their power (and then some) to get memorabilia of any kind to add to their collection.  It's just weird.  But now consider, how many things that belonged to your grandpa do you still save in some safe place?  Letters between your grandparents from the war?  Old jackets or shirts that your mom really loved?  Drawings from your children when they were still so young and sweet?  You have the memory, sure, but something tangible, something physical, can keep you connected to that memory even after the memory starts to fade.  Then there are those items you want to collect that are intangible. Someone's voice that was never caught on tape, the feeling when seeing the mountains for the first time, touching the softest little animal.  Some of you might think these things are weird, but a lot of you know exactly what I mean.  You know the wish of wanting to hold something intangible in your hands so that you can remember it over and over again every time you hear it or touch it or see it.  The memory itself just doesn't do for you.

    Have you ever heard of Harry Potter?  Silly question for everyone, but have you ever read the sixth book or watched the sixth movie (Half-Blood Prince)?  Dumbledore holds a tool that is a blessing in some ways and a curse in others.  It's called a Pensieve.  A Pensieve, to the untrained eye, looks merely like a bowl of still water.  However, when 'memories are extracted' from one's mind, they can be put into the Pensieve and experienced once again.  Think about that: if I take a memory from my mind that I don't have anything tangible to assist it, put it in the Pensieve and watch it all over again.  Of course, I understand the price to pay with this, but I'm not going to talk about that today (since the Pensieve isn't real, and we're not at risk of destroying ourselves.

I always miss band, and I always
miss my friends.

I miss my black tenor saxophone,
and I miss playing in jazz band.

    My point, to be clear, is that I often wish that I could hold time in a capsule, such as a Pensieve holds memories.  There are days when I'll think back to a certain instance in my life to which I have no tangible connection to and I will want to relive it, just for the amazing experience.  I wish I could hold the time I spent at the USC Band Clinic in 2010 - that time was amazing, and I wish I could be a part of that band forever.  But I can't.  I would really like to feel the surprise of being proposed to again, all the excitement and astonishment.  But I can't.  I wish I could go back and be in high school band again, all those performances, and band practices, and jazz band, and band clinics.  But I can't.  I wish I could hold these brilliant experiences in some sort of time capsule so that I can go back and reflect on them again and again whenever I want.  But I can't.

Our senior year of high school
after our last sweaty day of band camp!

    This blog post is not about working through those wishes, necessarily; I don;t really have a way to make it any easier.  All I know is that holding those times we wish we could experience over and over again is something that I would love.  But I know the dangers of that, too: I could get lost in the past and miss out on all the other experiences I have, never making new ones to reflect on and never getting the best out of the short time I have been given.

    That doesn't stop me, sometimes, from wishing I could relive certain memories.  Holding time in a capsule isn't as easy as looking at pictures and reminiscing, or seeing certain clothes and remembering some fantastic time.  But since it can't actually happen, and if I'm careful not to lose sight of the present, I don't think it can hurt to think about it.

What are some memories you wish you could revisit, if only once?