Johanna, What a great topic! Yes, I have had the experience of feeling like I’ve been there before, especially with my husband when we were dating. We were in Mexico on a romantic vacation, I was sitting next to him and I suddenly had a strong feeling that he had been in my life several times before, as my father, husband and brother. Very dramatic!
The first time I went to New York I was eleven years old. I remember telling my parents that you could have plugged my ears and blindfolded me and I still would have know I was in New York. When I moved there after college at 22, I had a very strong sense of...something. It took me two years to realize that the feeling was that I was home (since we'd moved so much when I was growing up, I assumed I'd always be a nomad) -- but in fact, I never wanted to leave. I've been living in California for 25 years now, but I still feel like I'm living in exile from NYC.
This is such a lovely musing...on your mom learning Japanese quickly and your own feelings of closeness to trees and beyond. It's like when you meet a person for the first time and they instantly seem like your best friend. Thank you for inspiring my mind today!
Johanna, What a great topic! Yes, I have had the experience of feeling like I’ve been there before, especially with my husband when we were dating. We were in Mexico on a romantic vacation, I was sitting next to him and I suddenly had a strong feeling that he had been in my life several times before, as my father, husband and brother. Very dramatic!
Very dramatic, indeed! Interesting, isn’t it?
Geographical déjà vu
Haha. Yeah. That's the feeling.
The first time I went to New York I was eleven years old. I remember telling my parents that you could have plugged my ears and blindfolded me and I still would have know I was in New York. When I moved there after college at 22, I had a very strong sense of...something. It took me two years to realize that the feeling was that I was home (since we'd moved so much when I was growing up, I assumed I'd always be a nomad) -- but in fact, I never wanted to leave. I've been living in California for 25 years now, but I still feel like I'm living in exile from NYC.
You’re a New Yorker at heart. MAN-hattun! That’s your city.
This is such a lovely musing...on your mom learning Japanese quickly and your own feelings of closeness to trees and beyond. It's like when you meet a person for the first time and they instantly seem like your best friend. Thank you for inspiring my mind today!
Hey, always happy to be a source of inspiration! I find these stories to be very intriguing.