Rare Air Déjà vu

When I began living and working in Santa Fe as the new century began, walking from parking lot to the office in the mornings sparked distinctly intense sensations of Déjà vu. I felt like I had lived there before but never had. The crisp, clean air at that high altitude wasn't so new. I had just spent a year living only about 1,000 feet lower in Colorado Springs. And even though the alpine desert climates of those two cities are very similar, the sensations of having lived in Santa Fe before wasn't related to anything experienced in Colorado Springs.

Then I caught a whiff of baking bread from somewhere as a breeze from the north kicked up briefly, probably from a restaurant down on East De Vargas Street.

Then I knew what place the new locale with rarified air had reminded me of: living in Tehran.

Our house in Tehran was about 2,000 feet lower than it was in Santa Fe, but aromas wafting about from cafés and bakeries along Sultanatabad Avenue were very similar. And even though Mt. Damavand's peak soared to an elevation of more than 18,000 feet in Tehran while Pecos Baldy's peak was merely more than 12,000 feet high, the two places were filling my mind and body with strong sensations of Déjà vu.

Reflecting on it now, I think it was also triggered by similarity of fresh experiences.

In Tehran it was obvious I was surrounded by an ancient civilization still struggling to catch up to the 20th century. Santa Fe, especially at the capitol complex and surrounding neighborhoods, felt old too, but it felt as though it never really wanted to catch up to the 21st century unfurling before me then. Then it struck me how my circumstances in both places were very similar. In Tehran I was a foreigner in a strange land far from home, embarking on adventures exploring and soaking up unfamiliar cultures. I was excitedly nervous about being there walking alone amongst such exoticness. In Santa Fe, which also felt foreign and far from home, I was also starting to work in a government job, something I had never done before, and I was a bit excited and anxious about how it was all going to be.

So, it apparently was a combination of rarified air, new places, new expriences, all still similar. And as the waves of Déjà vu washed over me that fine first morning in Santa Fe, I realized how much life experiences impacted my being, my satisfaction with life, and overall attitude.