Memory Vs Experience

I have had a look at Alan Durrant's blog and a few comments seem to have struck a chord and brought back a few memories. The experience that sprung to mind was an event that occurred when I was living away from home. Without going into all the details, I witnessed a minor incident on the street and ended up being the only person to have seen it properly so had to be interviewed by the police. It was all very dramatic! Either way, I knew what I had seen and didn't have anything to do with anyone involved and so talking to the police should have been simple - just say what you saw! This was the case the first few times I recounted the details however, the police had to keep coming back to me as the case developed to ask further questions. By this point I must have told my story so many times that I started to get myself in a bit of a 'tizz'- it was as if my mind was playing tricks and I started questioning myself, "Are you sure you saw that?" "Did it happen in that order?" etc Of course I knew what I had seen, I had no reason to doubt any of it but as time went along it was as if my memory started fading and the event had become a story in my head. I cant quite explain it as it was so many years ago but I do remember reflecting on the event on many occasions after and wondering what had happened in my brain to feel that change.
I had forgotten all about this event until reading the blog about Kahneman's thoughts on having two 'self's' an experiencing self and a remembering self. The event simply popped into my head! Maybe I had experienced the event and by recounting so many times, the event had converted into a 'remembering self' story. I had become the story teller and that's what had made me feel so strange, the event had become a story and the act of telling the police what felt like a story (obviously a very true story!) felt strange and wrong to me - it had been coming from a different part of the brain. The experience had gone, leaving behind the memory.

On a slightly different note, I remember watching a Loose Women programme (yes I am quoting Loose Women in my blog - I have reached new lows!!). They were discussing the weather and how it has changed over the years. One person commented that the weather always used to be glorious all summer and all of their childhood memories were of playing out in the sun. Another said they had always thought the same until they had got out a photo album and many of the experiences they had remembered as being in beautiful weather were in fact shown in the pictures to have been in the wet, grey and dull weather we seem to have every day! She commented on the fact that the pictures seemed to show a different story to her memory and how this had shocked her. She concluded that maybe the simple fact that she remembered having a fun day out with her family had completely over ruled the memory of the weather being miserable!
The emotions connected to the event had changed the actual experience  - effecting her memory.
I followed the link to Kahneman's talk on happiness and memory vs experience and was very interested in what he had to say, particularly the following statement:
"...it's about being happy IN your life and being happy ABOUT your life."

I think this I connected to the issue I discussed. Was the event as good as she remembers or is it the idea of the perfect day out with her family that has stuck as a memory? Is the weather really the only difference between her memory and the photograph or is it more connected to her emotions? Maybe she is happier thinking ABOUT her life than the experiences IN her life, as Kahneman discussed. Personally, I'd be inclined to think so.