The Art of Living Backwards

In Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" Alice is introduced to the White Queen who lives her life backwards and must run constantly to keep from losing her place. Alice thinks the idea of living backwards is unbearably strange, but the Queen assures her:

"'...but there's great advantage in it, that one's memory works both ways.' 'I'm sure mine only works one way,' Alice remarked. 'I can't remember things before they happen.' 'It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,' the Queen remarked."

And the Queen is quite right. It is a poor sort of memory. And it is for precisely this reason that stories have been created. Stories, both oral and written, provide a way to remember things that are, have been, will one day be, are not, have never been, and will never be. And while we may not be able to pinpoint the future with quite the needle-focus certainty of the White Queen, we at least are provided with an overview of what may be.