Memories Passed

We all like to visit new places.  There is so much to expect and so much excitement waiting for us.  We see new things and take pictures and experience feelings and times never felt before.  The growing anticipation for something new gives us the opportunity to feel refreshed by truly living free.  However, going places never gone before bring about some anxiety as well, because we don't always know what might happen.  That feeling can also add to the fun but people are always drawn to comfort--think about when your plane lands or when you walk through your front door after a vacation.



Speaking of comfort... we all like it.  We enjoy a routine.  We enjoy it so much we create our own, being just a little careful not to sway to far from it; knowing all too well it could lead to a bad day.  No surprise is an unfortunate one because we knew it was going to happen anyway--at least that is how we justify it.  The problem with our routines are that they become boring.  And why wouldn't they?  It is the same thing over and over again!  The same movements and the same repetition; who wouldn't want a new experience?  Events in our life become dull and frankly, tiresome.  "Been there, done that,” people will utter.  Give me something new no matter how frightening, one may think.  Then, of course, this also repeats itself.  Routine for a while, then a brief escape, but only for a short while.  We certainly wouldn't want to leave our comfortable place for a long time.



Or would we?  If we want something truly new and different we leave for a long while.  We say, "goodbye," to ones we used to know and say, "hello," to those we are sure to meet.  While we are gone, time passes.  People forget.  We come in and out of existence while we still are living.  That is, if we ever leave.  One of the best feelings is to visit a place that you had been at for a while and then decided to leave for a while too.  We call it, "going back."  But is it really?  One had been gone so long it certainly doesn't feel that way--it seems new but our memories let us know it isn't.  A return to what once was is certainly different.  Why are things so much smaller?  That is probably because you were just a child then.  I wonder what ever happened to that store and where all the people went?  One may be so detached that the place just, "isn't the same."  So you leave. 



As you look around though you notice and remember certain things.  While the landscape has changed a bit you still hear the same sound and still breathe in that same smell.  It triggers your memory and for a brief moment you may find yourself lost in a dream--something conjured up by your own imagination.  You may even remember things that didn't really happen--or maybe they did--you just chose to remember them differently...for you.  Returning to an old place may be more new than you originally thought, it just depends on how long you've been gone.