Writing Things Down so You Don't Have to Remember Them

On the surface, writing things down so you don't have to remember them seems like a pretty simple and obvious idea.  It is something I always used to avoid doing, because I didn't like writing, and had an excellent memory.  It seemed like a tedious waste of time.  As life got more complicated, I began to do so more frequently, with various systems of making notes for myself over the years.

But that concept can be applied at a much deeper level.  I make a point of writing things down when I don't want to be distracted by them.  This happens most frequently during quiet times at Bible Study, where ideas come to mind when I am trying to relax and be at peace.  I don't want to forget whatever occurred to me if it was important, but I don't want to be distracted by it, so I make a note of it on my cell phone.  And that allows me to refocus, since it is being "remembered" by my phone instead of by my mind.  I do that very consciously, as a tool for releasing small distractions from my mind.

They say that writing can be therapeutic, and I do a lot of writing now days, but I hadn't figured out to what degree that effect was true until recently.  My posts here describe all sorts of life events and experiences, most of which I remember from a long time ago.  So I have a pretty good memory, and am very conscious of things that have happened in the past.  (That is a characteristic that makes forgiveness harder for me.)

Anyhow, someone recently mentioned a major incident that they had read about on here, which almost caught me by surprise, because it had been so long since I had thought about it at all.  It was a somewhat traumatic initial experience that had pretty much defined one aspect of my life for many years.  After posting about it in detail, I guess my subconscious mind concluded that it didn't need to dwell on or remember it anymore.  And that is great!  I didn't even notice that it hadn't been on my mind for such a long time.  How does one know how much they have forgotten about?  I can think of a few other significant experiences I should post about on here, to help release them from the confines of my mind.  (Writing things down so I don't have to remember them.)  But I will get there, all in good time.  I am not usually someone who skips ahead, and when I do, I usually end up regretting it.