Déjà vu is defined as the experience of feeling that an event is being repeated when it never actually has been. Over 50% of the population has the experience at least once in their lives. Many people have reported having a déjà vu experience thousands of times over the course of their lives. It's likely that you may have had one recently, but what exactly is it? And why do we always feel like we've already lived through something before?
Déjà vu is often associated with religious experiences, but it can happen to anyone at any time in their life. The most common form of déjà vu is when you suddenly feel like you've lived through an event before like seeing someone who looks exactly like someone you know or hearing someone say something that sounds familiar even though it hasn't happened yet.
The effects of déjà vu vary depending on how close the two events are related. Some people report feeling as if they've been through some sort of transition or change in their lives like moving into a new house or starting a new job when something unexpected happens within their current situation. Other people report feeling as if they've already lived through this moment before like remembering something from childhood or seeing an old photo from years ago come to life again after being shown today for the first time since it was taken decades ago.
I have experienced Déjà vu a lot but I can't even remember some of them. One of the few that I can remember happened early last year while I was going to an event at my university. I was walking on the road when I saw a lady that looked so familiar and I instantly felt like I have had a conversation with her before. Then suddenly, she signaled me to stop and she started approaching, which made the whole thing weirder.
She then asked me for directions to somewhere in the university and she left when I replied. After she walked past me, I still stood at the spot looking at her and wondering if I have traveled to the past. The reason I felt that way was that the conversation I thought I had with her in the past was also about asking for directions and it also happened on that same road I was on! That was the weirdest Déjà vu I have ever experienced and it's the reason why I can't ever forget it.
Another Déjà vu I experienced was when I was traveling to Lagos for the first time and I was passing through a town that felt like I have been there before. I instantly remembered traveling through that town at one point in my life but the weird thing was that I have never been there before because I have never traveled to Lagos or any Western state, but it still felt so familiar like I have been in that town before.
One thing I have realized about Déjà vu is that it happens whenever we see or hear something familiar and our brain instantly creates a memory that tries to explain why that thing seems familiar. A false memory will be created and it will make you feel like you have seen that thing before or experienced something exactly like that, even though it has never happened.
Sometimes I even have a Déjà vu that's about something I have dreamt. The feeling was so strong that I started contemplating if I was actually dreaming at that point, but I was awake. While researching about Déjà vu, I found out that it refers to other related phenomena like déjà pensé (Already thought about), déjà entendu (already listened), déjà vécu (already experienced), and déjà senti (already felt). Well, I learned something new today, and I know some of you did too 😉
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