From Boyhood With Gurdjieff by Fritz Peters: “He (Gurdjieff) said that there were various important exercises having to do with ‘self-remembering’ which was a very important aspect of his work. One of them was to conscientiously and with all one’s concentration, try to remember, as on a movie film, everything that one had done during each entire day. This was to be done every night before going to sleep. The most important thing in the exercise was not to let the attention wander–by association.”
The gift of this exercise is that you will begin to see that there is an unconscious pattern to your day, that takes you where it will. You will begin to see your reactive moments and what led up to the reaction, and you will, with time, begin to catch yourself in the act before you’ve been launched into your habitual type patterns of self-defense or self-forgetting. From observing these patterns in this daily exercise, a memory will begin to be built inside you such that you see and feel the pattern before it takes charge. With this comes humility for others who are taken daily by their patterns, and humility. And with a little luck, you’ll begin to experience a sense of humor regarding the madcap activity of your personality. This too will open the door to seeing yourself more clearly.
If you decide to embark on this exercise it is suggested that you do it before you sleep as many find that if they wait until ready for bed, that they fall asleep in the exercise. Some do it first thing in the morning to avoid this.
