Repeats

Sometimes, wandering around, I have a splendid idea for something I'd really like to write. Then, sadly, I realize I've written it.

But does that have to be the end of it?

I am up here shelving the same books I have shelved before. I read the same flaps and covers of books I've read the flaps and covers of before. I decide, no, for the fifth time I don't want to read this book. I am just finishing the same drink, a cappuccino, I have drunk thousands of times. I have greeted that person there several times in the past. Every item of clothing I am currently wearing I have worn before. I will have the same lunch I usually have lately. My wife and I may watch a movie tonight that we have seen two or three times already.

So I am thinking, hell, I might as well write again on the same exact idea I've written on before. No moment is ever the same. Words will change, and phrasing will shift wildly around. Perhaps I'll offer a new twist or even come to a different conclusion. New jokes may find their way in, different sentences, a different feel.

And even if the new take is extremely similar to the old take, if you're anything like me, you'll have mostly forgotten that old interpretation anyway. It may all end up like a pleasant reminder of something you once sort of knew.

By the way, in case you were wondering, this is the first time I've written about all this for you here. But it may not necessarily be the last. So try not to remember this too clearly. Thanks.