It occurs to her that she should record this flash of insight in her journal otherwise she is sure to forget, for she is someone who is always learning and forgetting and
obliged to learn again—but the act of recording requires that she remove her gloves,
rummage through her bag for her pen and for the notebook itself. This is more than
she is capable of doing.
--Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries

What is the purpose of the dashes in the first sentence? How do they
help to create meaning?