Okay, so, I know probably everyone has had a moment where they felt like they have experienced the same setting, event, or dialogue before…but has anyone else experienced this phenomenon so strongly that it actually hurt?
I have had such powerful déjà vu at points in my life that my brain will get a quick and slightly painful headache, like when you’re thinking really hard in order to remember something you have forgotten. It lasts just a few fleeting seconds, and then disappears.
The first time this ever happened to me, I was in sixth grade. I did swimming for a year, and was at a swim meet at another school. I can’t remember if I was waiting to compete, or if I was waiting for final scores, but either way, I was on the benches with my mother as we watched the boy’s division. They were all lined up, ready to jump into the water. From the moment the whistle blew, I got this intense feeling of recognition. From the way the crowd cheered to the way that one of the boys fell into the water at an odd angle, I knew I had seen this scene before. I got a sudden pressure in my head as I tried to recollect when I last remembered this scene.
This has happened a few more times to this “painful” degree. They have never been life altering moments or special occasions, they are just snippets of a moment that is so familiar that it actually hurt my brain.
The most recent was when I was out shopping with my mother. She turned to me to ask me a question when my mind was suddenly hit with a déjà vu sensation. Everything from the “SALE!” poster behind her, to the object she was holding felt like a repeat. This time, I actually was able to remember where I had seen this snippet…I had actually dreamt it a few weeks before. This is the first time I actually remembered where I had seen this scene before.
What if we dream about moments in the future, then forget them, which is why we have déjà vu?!
Food for thought.
Dream Journal 