I have.
Have you ever experienced déjà vu?
I have.
I have discovered over my short lifetime many people I know that I have met or experiences that I have had previously. The funny thing is, the people I have met have not necessarily been real. Some characters I have met in real life have matched ones in books or movies that I have enjoyed.
Let me give you an example.
I was reading Louis L'Amour the other day, and Louis wrote a description of Dan Shute from "Crossfire Trail". It reads:
"Dan Shute was another type of man. He was as tall and broad of shoulder. Normally he was sullen, hard eyed and surly. He had little to say to anyone, and was more inclined to settle matters with a blow, or a gun than with words. He was utterly cold blooded, felt slightly about anything, and would kill a man as quickly and with as little excitement as he would brand a calf."
Now, it so happens that this description matches the floor manager at my place of work! I read it out to a couple of people, and they had the same response as I had had the previous night. A literary déjà vu, I guess.
The same week, I was working with a young man with flowing long hair, and an earring. He was talking about his speed on a particular machine, and how only one other individual could match it. As he was speaking, he was sharpening his knife, again and again. One name came to mind. Billy The Kid. This young man, if he had lived in the frontier, could have been Billy, or an imitator. The impression of the outlaw spirit and attitude was amazing.
I have had other impressions of 'past' experiences as well. Most have been fleeting, and not significant. On one occasion, I remember looking at a stack of books, and was flooded with a vivid memory of a particular book store in Regina packed to the rafters with neat stuff. I clearly remember putting down an original copy of Buffalo Bill's Autobiography from 1900 or so because I did not have the quarter to buy it! Every time I smell that musty odour again, I am transported to that time in my life.
So it is with our heroes I believe.
We re-watch our favourite movie. We re-read our favourite book. We revisit our birthplaces. We go to places significant to our lives in an effort to rekindle the 'magic' we felt once, or to share that with our loved ones.
Go To Page: 1 2
