It’s gotta be fifty years ago. I was driving for the first time on Green Bay Road going north toward Highland Park, Illinois. All was going well until. . . . whoa! I had this weird feeling that I had been there – on this road – among these homes – at some point in the past. I looked around. It was a feeling that I had not experienced before. And since then, every time we drive up that way, the same sensation knocks on my door. And as we drive through – it exits. Why? Who knows. . . .

The term “deja vu” was first used in 1876 by Emile Boirac – a French philosopher. His book L’avenir des Sciences Psychiques offered deja vu as a remembrance of a memory. An experience from the past that prompts a feeling of familiarity in the future.

There are numerous theories on what causes deja vu: neurological anomaly, mental disorders, genetics, mild form of epilepsy, certain drug use and the list goes on.

The good news is that more than two thirds of all people experience deja vu. The experience of deja vu is interestingly more common among those who are younger, have higher education, people who travel, watch films and are able to recall dreams. Up until I began researching for this post, I was under the impression that deja vu was just an occasional sensation. It appears that the comments above may be just the tip of the iceberg. . . . .