Do You Deja Vu?

By Ann Baldwin

It’s usually a strange and eerie feeling to go somewhere or do something for the first time and experience it as if you’ve been there before. You have a compelling sense of familiarity, when déjà vu occurs. I experienced déjà vu often, when I was younger. I just figured I was a very old soul that had been around the block and back again one too many times. Then, one night while watching a movie in the theater, I had a new kind of experience with déjà vu.

My brothers had invited me at the last minute to go to the movies with them; they were going to see Ghost Busters. Because I wasn’t watching much T.V. or reading the newspaper at the time, I hadn’t seen, heard or read what the movie was about. As we were sitting in the theater watching Ghost Busters, I began to experience déjà vu. I not only had the sense of familiarity of having been there before, I actually knew where and when. I’d been there the night before in my night-time dream and had written it out in detail that morning. Many of the unusual scenes from the movie were in my dream the night before.

You can imagine how you’d react, if you had a similar experience. At first, it startled me and I gasped for air and jolted as if someone had scared me. Both of my brothers looked at me and whispered “are you ok?” and “what’s wrong?” I took in a deep breath, slowly exhaled, said I was fine and I’d explain after the movie. I was awe-struck through the rest of the film. It was the first time I was aware that I’d had a precognitive dream. Since then, when I start to experience déjà vu, I’m usually able to recall the dream.

While everyone dreams several times each night, most people don’t remember them and even fewer will write them out. Most dreams last from 5 to 20 minutes. We will spend about 6 years of our lives dreaming, during a typical lifetime.

I began recording my night-time dreams every morning, when I was a sophomore in high school. I was so intrigued by this new world of dreams that I started researching the subject. I got my hands on and read as many books as I could, along with attending seminars and lectures. We didn’t have computers or the internet back then. Kind of makes me feel like a dinosaur now. My dreams became more vivid and long like a movie. I’d gotten to the point where one morning I remembered over ten dreams; some were over fifteen pages long and filled with incredible details.

There are many people who believe that déjà vu is the memory of dreams. Because I remember my dreams and write them out, my experience of déjà vu is no longer strange and eerie; I feel comfort in knowing where and when I had been there before.

Thank you for entering
The Land of Make Believe
Where Your Dream is What You Achieve

Annie
Giving Those Without A Voice A Way To Be Heard