2 minute read

The Talisman

By Joe Ortiz

There’s a scene in the movie A Few Good Men where Tom Cruise, in starting an impassioned meeting with his fellow lawyers says, “Where’s my baseball bat? I can’t think without my baseball bat.”

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Objects can help to engage the brain. Poets refer to “the objective correlative” in describing how objects carry emotional resonance. And novelists tell us, “The devil is in the details,” meaning that objects can intensify a description.

Recently my wife Gayle noticed I wasn’t hearing her or understanding things she said to me. It called up a problem I had in my early childhood, often zoning out in avoiding the chaos going on around me. Quite often, family members would wave their hands in my 6-year-old face and say, “Joey, come back. Pay attention. Are you in there, Joey?”

I’ve found myself experiencing similar episodes now. Yes, at the age of 74 (my wife tells me I’m 76), the old habit has resurfaced, so I thought it wise to find a solution.

I went to an antique coin seller and bought a 2012 Silver Eagle silver dollar, which I vowed to carry in my coin pocket and rub between thumb and forefinger whenever I had to listen diligently to someone. I now think of this tactile coping mechanism as a memory tool, “a talisman” – which dictionaries defined as “anything that exerts powerful influence over human emotion or action.”

I discovered that focused concentration, and a sincere interest in listening can help you hear things you might never have heard. And my God! – learn something!

Weeks later I became a mentor to my godson Evan, who has cognitive challenges because he has undergone a successful brain procedure to cure a long history of seizures. I thought perhaps the Talisman idea would help him remember cooking instructions now that he’s pursuing a career in food. So, I gave him a shiny 1963 half dollar to try the technique.

A few days later I asked him if he had tried my memory trick and he pulled the coin out of his pocket, rubbed it in his fingers, and said, “It helps me focus.” When I asked him if he remembered what I called it he said, “I think it was something like a TALIBAN.” “Not exactly,” I said, muffling my laughter to put him at ease. “But you’ve learned another great technique many people use for remembering – one similar sounding word can help you remember another.”

Memory devices don’t always have to be an object. They can be other words. Perhaps even smells, or a photograph.

In fact, most of us who write as a hobby, craft, or a profession would admit that once we write something down, it tends to “stick.” Another method is to imagine an appropriate mental picture over someone’s head when we meet them to help us remember their name. We memorize ingredients for a recipe, counting them on our fingers, hoping to call them up while standing at the stove.

And whether we use a talisman, a word or a picture, or any other trickery or device to “hear and remember”– it may not be a perfect solution – but at least we’d be attempting to find a personal technique to help us in focusing our attention. 

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