Memory isn't a video you replay. It's a story you rewrite each time you open it.
When you recall an event, your brain rebuilds it from fragments — and whatever you're feeling now gets stitched into the reconstruction. Then it's saved again, slightly altered.
The more often you recall something, the less accurate it becomes.
This means the memories you revisit most are the most distorted. A painful memory revisited in a calm moment slowly softens. A joyful memory recalled in sadness changes too.
That's also why therapy works: revisit the wound safely, and you literally rewrite it.
You're not remembering the past. You're remembering the last time you remembered it.