[Illustration]
When you go home in the evening the first thing mentioned is the
unusual happening of the day. Those things which have been most out of
the ordinary are the first mentioned in your conversation. If some very
unusual circumstance has thrust itself upon those at home, they will
rush out to meet you, to tell you perhaps that "The cat devoured the
canary." All unusual circumstances impress the mind in such a manner
that they are very easily recalled. To see the House balanced on one
corner instead of in its usual position upon the foundation, will
strengthen the impression of the picture already made. Take advantage
of this natural fact and when you wish to remember make the picture an
unusual one, even make it grotesque or ludicrous.
There is no limit to the degree in which you can use these three
natural mental operations. Your exaggeration of a pin can make it
appear the size of a pencil or a telephone pole, or as tall as a
twenty-story building. You can see it move a foot or two or swinging in
a pendulum-like rhythm or dancing upon a hill.
Thus the use of these three principles makes it possible for you to
place upon your brain an impression of whatever strength you choose. If
the first one is not recalled readily you know how to make a stronger
one. Simply exaggerate the size, move it farther or more rapidly and in
a more unusual or ludicrous manner.