It’s called Paramnesia and, according to dictionary.com, it’s a distortion of memory where fantasy and objective experience are confused. You may have experienced it as Déjà vu, meaning “already seen.” It's that eerie feeling that something you are going through has happened in the past. The sensation is usually fleeting, and you can’t quite put your finger on the details, but it can be a bit disconcerting.
It’s called Paramnesia and, according to dictionary.com, it’s a distortion of memory where fantasy and objective experience are confused. You may have experienced it as Déjà vu, meaning “already seen.” It's that eerie feeling that something you are going through has happened in the past. The sensation is usually fleeting, and you can’t quite put your finger on the details, but it can be a bit disconcerting.
I used to wonder if déjà vu was caused by an intersection of parallel universes. Was my universe colliding with another “my” universe, the way wave circles might collide in a pool of water if you tossed in a couple of pebbles? Good grief, is the Cindy in that world making the same mistakes I’m making here?
Years ago, I was talking about déjà vu with a co-worker and he said that, for him, déjà vu was comforting. It was a sign that he was exactly where he was supposed to be in life. I liked that thought and decided to adopt his view. This only brought about a different problem, though; while I used to be freaked out by déjà vu when it happened a lot, now I am anxious when I haven’t had the experience in a long time! The good news is, it happened again only a couple of days ago and, lucky for me, it looks like I was destined to be fighting with Alex about getting his math done and putting Chris in time out for throwing a temper tantrum and, oh, great, I’m supposed to have gobs of dirty laundry spilling out of the utility room. Hmmm. Wonder what that other "Cindy" is up to....
I guess the French have always been the subject matter experts on paramnesia, because in addition to deja vu, there are the phenomena of Presque vu, “almost seen” and Jamais vu, which means “never seen.” If you ask Chuck, I experience this one a lot!
Take, for example, the time he was photographing the Land Rover that we were getting ready to sell:
“Cindy, how did we get that big dent in the roof?”
“I don’t know, what dent?”
“Look, there’s a big long scratch and a dent right there, on the driver’s side.”
Pregnant pause while I’m thinking…
“Ohhhh, I might have hit a tree.”
“Excuse me? Might have hit a tree?”
Memory restored, I was able to recall that one day, while in the final round of a game of full-contact parking at the public library, vying for the last empty spot, I decided that the Land Rover could handily jump the curb and blaze through the mud to snatch its prize before the other driver got there. Unfortunately, I guess as recompense for my greed, I scraped the top of my vehicle against a really old, thick tree branch (that materialized out of nowhere, of course). Ouch.
Or, the other time when Chuck was slaving over his virtually melting computer, the very vessel housing the internal organs of his livelihood, and I “forgot” to mention to him that I had opened (and I KNOW better than to open!) a questionable e-mail attachment which could have unleashed a virus infecting his world and our ability to buy groceries. Days passed and, after watching him struggle to no avail, I made my tearful confession and because he is a man of god-like grace, I am still alive to tell the story.
Lacking anything more constructive to do with my time, I thought I’d have a little of my own paramnesiac fun:
Presque new – gently used
Presque brew – any American beer
Presque true – a white lie
Presque two – 1.99999
Deja chewed – the food your toddler offers to share
Deja Stew – leftovers
Jamais who – really bad with names
Jamais do – my kids and chores
Can you think of any more?