Irene Hides The Remote

I was talking to Irene and watching something recorded in the living room and decided to go into the den to turn the TV on early and pause it for Wheel of Fortune. I walked into the den and got the TV set and walked back into the living room and realized I hadn’t turned off the TV. The remote wasn’t on the coffee table where I usually leave it. The coffee table is clean - no clutter, only the remotes, a couple of coasters and a picture of Irene and me.

This kind of thing has been happening lately where I think I’ve misplaced a remote, but it turns out I just overlooked it (or so I thought) and it’s right where I already looked – on the coffee table. I got in the habit of actually counting the remotes on the table (I have 6) and making sure I consciously examine the table to make sure I’m not just missing it.

I counted them - 5 remotes. I make sure to look at each one when I count and scrutinize the entire table.

I figured I must have absent-mindedly took it with me when I went to get some coffee earlier while we were watching the recorded show, so I checked the kitchen. Not there. I poured my coffee and went back in the living room and recounted the remotes, making sure I look at each one individually like before so I don’t misidentify the remotes. I scrutinized the table again. No remote.

I go to the den, turn on the TV and pause it, looking for the remote. I look on the desk in my office in the next room. Nothing. I tell myself I must have either missed it or it fell in between the sofa cushions. I go back in the living room and repeat the whole process a third time and it’s till not there. I turn my head and slip my hand between the cushions to see if it somehow got wedged in there. Nope.

I turn around and look back at the coffee table. The remote is right there, exactly where I had looked and counted remotes 3 times. I counted to make sure I was remembering the number of remotes correctly. There were 6.

Here’s the weird thing: it didn’t even register at first. I just thought, “hmm, must have overlooked it again,” and used it to turn off the TV and that’s when it hit me. “Wait, that’s not the way this happened. Didn’t I count those remotes? Didn’t I check the table?”

It was like I was trying to remember a dream. My mind had tried to edit out about 4 minutes of me deliberately, consciously, being focused, examining the table, counting and identifying each remote 3 times!!! I had to work for a couple of minutes just to regain the memory. It was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever experienced.

Lately Irene and I have been using the theory that my inability to see her can be thought of as purely cognitive. We were thinking, what if this is really nothing more than a matter of cognitive blindness and the mind editing out our time together, awake or asleep? Who knows what other contact Irene and I have had that is just edited out of my memory?

Somehow she made the remote disappear and reappear so that I could catch my mind editing out something that just happened – something I was completely conscious of, focused on and intent on remembering.

So, now I have a new affirmation: “I am fully capable of experiencing Irene physically and remembering it.” … in an effort to reprogram my subconscious and facilitate experiences with her and remembering it. I'm going to come up with more - who knows what all I'm missing?