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Working Title: //Fame, Infamy, or Oblivion: What it Takes to be Remembered or Forgotten// Before it was: //What was your name again?// //What it Takes to be Remembered// Both don't seem to fit very well, and the one on top seems very dramatic and promising a lot. I'll keep thinking.

Source: Memory Hoarding in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) http://www.ocdla.com/blog/memory-hoarding-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd-886 Organization behind it: OCD Center of Los Angeles

Compressed formal summary of one source The article "Memory Hoarding in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)" describes the "behavior of creating certainty around an uncertain state" that some people with OCD tend to display through the practice of memory hoarding. Memory hoarding is a type of "mental compulsion to over-attend to the details of an event, person, or object in an attempt to mentally store it for safekeeping." People who memory hoard try to treat memories in the same way that they might treat inanimate objects. The problem with this mental state is that memories can not be treated the same as inanimate objects. Trying to hoard a memory can not be exactly compared with hoarding old newspapers, for example. The OCD Center of Los Angeles reminds us that a memory is not only, "a complex amalgam of all of your sense (sight, hearing, smell, and so on), but it is also a function of the emotional state and cognitive processes of the person forming the memory, both at the time the memory is being formed, and when it is being recalled." Therefore, memories are never completely perfect. Forming and recalling memories distorts them, and the belief that memories, like inanimate objects, can be stored totally accurately leads to "guaranteed disappointment" for the compulsive memory hoarder. The OCD Center of Los Angeles demonstrates that memory hoarding is comparable to the "last look" one might take at an apartment, for example, after they have just moved all the boxes, and are leaving for the last time. If you were in such a situation you might think, "this is the last time you will be this person in this place." Someone with OCD might take this "last look" to the next level by over-attending to specific details of an event, person, or location, by dwelling on trying to remember, or by playing the memory over and over again in their head to make sure the memory is accurately stored. Those with OCD may feel compelled to engage in memory hoarding because they "feel trapped in a state of never fully being able to take in the true value of this moment." According to the OCD Center of Los Angeles, "irony is consistent throughout the OCD spectrum," and in terms of memory hoarding, it is evident in that people who try to remember perfectly the specific details of an event actually miss out on the beauty of the moment itself because they are too concerned with storing the memory safely. The OCD Center of Los Angeles observes that those with OCD may engage in memory hoarding because of their "difficulty accepting the permanence of the passing of time" or because, as OCD entails, they are "trying to do the right thing in the right way 100%." The OCD Center of Los Angeles ends the article by urging us to let "experiences happen without OCD telling you how to enjoy and remember them" if the "ultimate objective is to value and enjoy experiences in your life."

The way i will use this article in my paper will probably be to touch upon the fact that different people's brains work in different ways, and part of being remembered by someone definitely has to do with whether or not they want to remember. Memory hoarding may be an extreme example, but it shows the contrast between those who want to remember (although OCD is an excessive extent) and those who may not put as much emphasis on keeping track of the life experiences or people they come across.  Clipped Quotes Templates

Works Cited entry "Memory Hoarding in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)." //OCD Center of Los Angeles Blog //. OCD Center of Los Angeles, 14 July 2010. Web. 07 June 2014.