We have two memory banks, long term and short term memory, what memory bank a memory goes into depends on how many times we recall that memory, this makes the memory stronger or weaker, think of it like training a muscle.
Often times traumatic, emotional or even sensory triggers can force a memory to repeat meaning it has a stronger bond and will go into long term memory.
Where as in contrast, you probably wont think of something like a license plate of a car which you walked past 15 years ago many times meaning it will fall into short term memory and eventually die off over time.
Ontop of this the mind often warps memories to the point where they differ from the actual events, either seeming more intense/extreme or just different overall i.e paraphrasing of events or slightly different events.
Memory is pretty complicated though, I haven’t thought about it in some time and what I am putting here is from memory from when I was younger so I may be wrong ( feel free to correct me anyone), but I believe that is how memory works put simply.
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