I am 13-years-old, and my science teacher, Mr Williams, has taken my class camping. The toasted marshmallows smell delicious, and the gumtrees are backlit by a roaring fire. My best friend and I can’t wait to crawl into our tent and sleep, blanketed by the fragrant bush air.

The scenario above is not a memory I have of an actual event. It’s a memory of a dream I had when I was in Year 7. Confusing? Yes. Normal for me? Also yes.

Having a super memory has it’s perks, but it also comes with drawbacks. Credit: Getty

I can remember being tasked to write a story based on a picture (the silhouettes of a child and an adult, hugging, looking out over an ocean) in high school; talking about kids with a colleague while working at Kmart when I was 18 (she wanted to have three by 25); and the epic tale of going undercover as a journalist in Mexico told by a university tutor when I was 26.

Most people would view having a great memory as a blessing. Total recall means never having to worry about forgetting details or places or faces. But with the obvious good of remembering the name of your childhood neighbour’s dog also comes the bad.

In particular, the memories of my failures burn the brightest and rise to the........

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