I think it's just "regular" memories we get stuck on. I have lots of them, but fewer than I use to have before therapy? My "favorite" is when my family was driving across country and we were in the "badlands" of South Dakota and there was nothing but bland, beige, grass-covered hills and highways with phone poles -- was almost worse than the Midwest/Kansas, Nebraska or Oklahoma prairies. Anyway, I decided to "memorize" a phone pole, a particular one and I started at it until I couldn't see it anymore out the back window of the car. Was/is a very interesting experience, "my" phone pole. While I was looking at it, memorizing it, I was thinking too about how I'd think about it in a year, 10 years, etc. It's been nearly 45 years now.

I think any situation with strong feelings can be the same, that's what memories are; you don't remember things that aren't memorable which is why it seems there are more bad memories stored up than good; who remembers a "sunny day" when there are "exciting" hurricanes to remember? If you think about it, you have to remember specific instances, can't remember a train of instances over time very well/specifically (learning to read, for example; doesn't usually happen at once, in one sitting, so isn't remembered).

I use to (before therapy) get "flashbacks" from smells. But not specific flashbacks, just the feelings, usually of anxiety or misery. There was one library I'd never been to and it happened to be in an elementary school. Walked through the door and, of course, thought it looked different, it still smelled like an elementary school, the "layout" and height of drinking fountains, where bathrooms were located, etc. were school-like. Wasn't even my old school, I'd never seen/been in this one before but the terror when I walked through the door was "old." Obviously I was never thrilled about elementary school for a multitude of reasons. But I was actually in 4 elementary schools from kindergarten to 6th grade, in a couple different states and they were all different types of schools, some newer some ancient. So it's not a specific memory, it's a PTSD-like "situation" but still, it's a part of my life and not likely to just go away. Because of therapy I don't get "surprised" anymore by smells and walk into situations like the school-turned-library one anymore. A lot of the stress has removed itself so things are much more bearable and I'm surer of myself "now" and can separate out that things aren't happening now and are not going to happen again like that. It reminds me of the CSI-type shows where the good guys tell a victim, "He'll never hurt you again" after they kill the bad guy.