Memory, sense of the past, identity: educational challenges

Memory is precious in the research for meaning, especially in an era increasingly characterized by existential dispersion. Not fulfilling the desire of memory indeed means exposing someone to the risk of losing himself. The changing rhythm of contemporary life causes a difficult sedimentation of experience and an aseptic relationship with one’s own past. Within a scenario of memory alienation, the person struggles to find a constructive resource for his own personal identity in the past. How can one find the meaning of time again, by abandoning the hectic rhythm of our daily activities? How can we find memory again? An educational commitment is necessary to help the person to re-acquire his capacity for experience, giving meaning to existence and leaving a trace of his own being: a potential memory. In light of these considerations, the elaboration of a narrative approach is particularly relevant today, in order to accompany and promote the search for meaning, in which the person is engaged during his growing process. From this perspective, it is possible to cultivate a special ability to learn from experience, by covering life path with a meaningful look, by virtue of the educating action of memory.