Charles Socci Dot Com

There is a concept, or maybe it is better described as a muse, The idea simply involves seeing familiar things in the fresh light of new discovery.

I’ve discovered it isn’t a new idea; rediscovering old things. There are even books with titles like Meeting Jesus Again For The First Time, Scientific American articles with titles like, Element 118 Discovered Again–For The First Time.

The first time I began pondering this oxymoron enigma of “Again For The First Time” was back in my teens. I was reading about people’s self reported experiences while under the influence of different recreational drugs.

One young male in his twenties reported smoking marijuana and then going outside after a snow storm. His description of the experience was filled with a sense of wonderment. His very words were that it was, “…like seeing snow for the first time”.

This idea of re-discovery, cultivating the skill of finding new ways to see, hear, touch - is a powerful contrivance. In it lies the power to create, inspire, and find new power to live our lives. It is the fundamental essence of childhood play–one we too often tragically lose as we age.

It seems to me there is a fundamental human need to find new things or rediscover old ones. We become psychically ill when we stop having the sense of discovery and life falls into a lifeless pattern of predictability.