Discarding "useless" information

I am 48 and I am in awe of my brain. I like I'm sure, most who have just discovered they have aphantasia, are the least to say surprised. I thought people having images in their heads, like playing the " I am going to the shops to buy something memory game" eg I am going to the shops to buy an apple, then the next person adds a banana. Remembers, apple and banana an adds next object. Multiple people play adding more and more objects to remember. My sister in law remembered to 20 items, I was in awe. I asked how did you do that, she said she linked the images into a moving cartoon. I thought she had a super power. Haha. I now realise she obviously does not have aphantasia. I always believed my brain discarded useless information, to make room for current information. I have have been sad and frustrated not remembering my past images eg going to Egypt in my 20's I know I've been. Seen my photos, where I see I'm there, but no images, smells, auditory memories, no emotions remembered, to the photos. It hurts to have no memory time sequence to my life. I feel like I'm only living in the present. My greatest fear is outta sight, outta mind. I meet you once, I will not recognise you unless I meet you multiple times and i have got to know you. Then you stand a chance. I'm sure people get confused when I meet them a second time, in a different setting, and I will speak to them, as if I have met them for the first time. As they did not "set" in my brain. I hope this relatable, to someone, so we know we are not alone.

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RD Valdes-Dapena•recently

I have been photographing the events of my life for decades now. It was only a few years ago that I realized how tightly that practice is tied to having aphantasia. For me being able to see my past is so gratifying that until reading your post I never considered what might be happening in heads of "normal" people when they look at photographs of their lives: the recollected sounds and smells, the emotions rekindled. To be sure my scrapbooks are an imperfect substitute for a typical brain but they are so much better than having my past disappear day by day. As for failing to recognize people, that is a very awkward problem. When possible I rely on my wife to tell me if I have met somebody before. And I try not to say "Nice to meet you." until I'm sure I haven't met them before. When I'm alone and someone approaches with a smile (of recognition?) and says "Hi." I just have to hope that sooner or later they will say something that will clue me in to how they know me and, presumably, I know them. I have often thought that aphantasia is like a mild case of prosopagnosia ("face blindness").