The Ordinary Devoted Mother Summary

“I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers” - Helen Keller. As a woman known for her disabilities, yet also for her sheer tenacity, Helen Keller states something important about limitations in this quote. She is saying that although limitations may occasionally get in the way and cause distress, they most often are the fuel that fires growth. In “The End of Remembering,” written by Joshua Foer, and The Ordinary Devoted Mother, written by Alison Bechdel, the idea of limitations being both good and bad are explored. In the case of Bechdel, she sees limitations as means of personal personal growth. Foer, however, see them in

a more technical way in that limitations can be controlled and expanded. Together, the two writings explore the idea that limitations are the building blocks of self-creation and growth. Whether being good or bad, those who struggle inevitably come to a realization in which individuality is born.
When hearing the word limitations, one would not typically consider it synonymous with the word good.

This, however, is not always the case. In many situations, limitations are actually powerful forces that can push other limits and help humans adapt to the every evolving world. This concept is widely considered in Joshua Foer’s, “The End of Remembering.” This article generally focuses on the concept of memory and how it has changed over the course of many centuries. One idea Foer poses is that of the human mind being limited both physically and metaphorically. Scientific research has shown that the human brain only works at about 10 percent of its full capacity, meaning there is another 90 percent that we have yet to use. This imaginary barrier is repressing our ability to move forward in both evolution and self-creation. Foer suggests that it is this limitation, however, that has pushed mankind to think outside of the box and to go beyond our physical limits. With that, he

says:
As more and more of our lives move online, more and more is being captured and preserved in ways that are dramatically changing the relationship between our internal and external memories. We are moving toward a future, it seems, in which we will have-all encompassing external memories that record huge swaths of our daily activity” (Foer 172).
Essentially, Foer is trying to suggest that it is because of our limited capacity to utilize our full potential, that we are pushing so hard to explore the external world. By using only 10 percent, humans are forced to go further and explore how we can expand that, whether naturally or artificially. There will come a point in time where all of our memories may be recordings in an external hard-drive. Whether that is good or bad itself is up for another discussion, but that will only happen because of how limited we are and the drive that limitations gives us to go beyond.
Foer is not the only one who has explored this idea in their writings.

Alison Bechdel has also discussed the concept that limitations are a positive driving force in everyday life. In her book The Ordinary Devoted Mother, Bechdel chronicles events in her life that have made it difficult to write a memoir about her mother. She, however, finds that this task is much more challenging than expected, and not because she does not know what to write about. Instead, Bechdel struggles with an internal conflict she faces with her mother. In another sense, Bechdel feels that she must fulfill her mother’s legacy and that idea is limiting her from being able to write. This inability to write, in a way, because an obsession of Bechdel’s, forcing her to search for a deeper in meaning as to what the problem is. This is precisely said when Bechdel writes, “This search for meaningful patterns may very well be crazy. But to be enlisted with her in it thrills me. ‘Why do you and I do that?’ I am carrying on her mission” (Bechdel 103). Bechdel discovers that her limitation is actually a way for her to follower her mother’s legacy. As humans, we often limit ourselves to that of which our parents can do or have done in their lifetime. More often than not, this limit is what drive us to do better and to possibly become more successful. In a way, Bechdel is suggesting that she has yet to surpass her mother. When this limitation is finally broken, however, she finds herself free and able to do

anything. Between the two, Foer and Bechdel greatly emphasize the idea that limitations can be good in that they push someone to strive for the best. Foer’s technical stance that limitations are physical and mental, suggest that Bechdel’s own struggle was simply all in her head. Both ideas are what makes a human being themselves, giving rise to self-creation.
Although, thus far, limitations have been judged as being positive, with all good things comes and evil counterpart. Limitations, especially, are more readily judged as being negative and or a hindrance when it comes to everyday life. Foer and Bechdel previously explored the powerful, influential side of limitations, but they are speak of the less meaningful half of it. As previously mention, in “The End of Remembering,” Foer talks a lot about how memory is moving form internal to external ‘devices.’ When looked at in a positive light, this means unlimited power, but when analyzing the downside, it instead means devolution. One way to interpret Foer’s article was that in many ways, as humans progress in technology, we are at the same time stepping back in time. This idea is first suggested when Foer says, “Our gadgets have eliminated the need to remember such things anymore (…) These technologies outside our minds have helped make our modern world possible, but they’ve also changed how we think and how we use our brains” (Foer 160). Knowing already that we only use 10 percent of our mental capacity, why would we use even less by essentially moving everything outside of our brain. Foer is making the argument that it is because of our need to expand and our ignorance about the brain’s abilities, that we look for other means to go beyond. Going beyond, however, may mean taking a step back. As humans begin moving more and more of their internal knowledge out, they are using less and less of their brain. Soon 10 percent may turn into 5 percent. The motto ‘practice makes perfect’ makes sense. If we no longer practice using our memories, it will soon no longer exist. With the ability to readily remember ideas, concepts, or memories, we are not only losing intelligence, but we are also losing ourselves. Memories creates us as human beings and it isn't about review what happened in the past, but instead about reliving an experience.