I've been thinking

a lot about déjà vu lately.

That doesn't

mean that I'm going to write about the Muppets again this week.

Oh wow, that

is so weird. It's like I've written that before.

What is déjà

vu ? Is it just a way for the French to define the undefinable, making

themselves appear superior and frustrating the rest of the world? Probably

not.

Déjà

vu is defined as an experience when one feels that the present moment,

in all its exact detail, has been lived before. When one experiences déjà

vu , it feels almost dreamlike. This can be very disconcerting and even

frightening because you know that you are awake and can't possibly be

dreaming.

Science has

said that déjà vu is a momentary alternation of consciousness,

caused by a minor seizure in the temporal lobe of the brain. New age types

say that déjà vu is memories of past lives. I think I'll

choose memories of past lives over seizures any day of the week. However,

it can't really be memories of past lives because one of the times I experienced

déjà vu was eating burgers at Burger King. I highly doubt

that there was a time, when I was Abraham Lincoln, that I went out and

ate burgers and fries with my friends.

The dictionary

definition of déjà vu is disagreeable familiarity or sameness.

In my experiences, déjà vu hasn't always been disagreeable.

It is strange and what usually sets it off is auditory rather than visual.

I will hear someone say something, like "Cow tipping is a blast"

and I'm there. I remember being exactly where I am and with the same people

and hearing the same things. I begin to search my brain as to what comes

next and why I'm experiencing déjà vu and I can't come up

with anything.

What I want

to know is what is the significance of déjà vu . Why is

that particular moment being repeated? Have you lived that moment before?

Is it a glitch in the matrix and will I wake up one day to realize that

I am merely a battery for a race of computers that have taken over the

planet.

Probably not.

Whether you

think of déjà vu as a seizure, a memory of your past life

or a Dionne Warwick song, chances are you will have a moment that you

swear you have been in before. When you get there, try not to panic and

order a chocolate shake.

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