Would you call a memory an anchor?

In neuro-linguistic programming, anchor is a term that designates a physical stimulus which comes to represent the constellation of perceptions and physiology that constitutes a particular state. Essentially, anchors are the tags we use to retrieve entire experiences rather than individual pieces of information. That makes them memories.

Is anchor a good term? Do memories weigh us down so that we do not slip away on the tides of change? What happens if someone drops anchor just as we hoist our sails? I suppose we pull the anchor back up again.

How would it be different if we replaced the word anchor with the word star? After all, for thousands of years, it was the stars that told men where they were and when they were and how to navigate the waters of change.

Instead of creating an anchor, we could give birth to stars.

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