Looking down as we descend into Schipol Airport in Amsterdam<\/figcaption><\/figure>Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has followed me everywhere. I can see by the news that each place has gotten sunny after I leave it, so the rain must be following me around like a lost puppy. But the rain isn\u2019t the only thing that seems to be following me around. Lately I\u2019ve been dogged by wisps of deja vu every where I go. <\/p>\nI\u2019m not talking about the kind of deja vu where you sit around afterwards trying to figure out if this was a case of a premonition come true or just a glitch in your brain. This is not about dreams and events but rather places and familiarity. A place looks familiar, like I\u2019ve been there before, only I\u2019m quite certain that this is the first time I\u2019ve been to the place in question. So then I puzzle out what it is the place reminds me of. Is this a case of similarities between disparate geographies or something else?<\/p>\n
When I travelled to Paris in 2012 I was quite convinced that the sense of familiarity I had with that place was something more than just similarities to other places I\u2019ve been. I\u2019m still certain that my Paris experience was unique in my life. The way I knew that city, navigated it without map or guidebook at least as well as I would do in the city where I grew up, was seriously bizarre. I\u2019m not talking about that kind of experience. <\/p>\n
These sparks of familiarity are smaller. A building on a corner that I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve seen before. A park that feels exactly like a place I took my children when they were young. A set of shops that I\u2019m sure are in exactly the same configuration somewhere else I\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n
Some of this might be chalked up to movie magic. Movies, TV shows and even music videos get made in many places, scooping up the street views of locations with no name and no context. The brain files the information away, and then suddenly you see an image you saw on a screen before and a synapse fires to tell you that you\u2019ve already got a mental file with this image.<\/p>\n
A portion of the experience may be due to copying across locations: Developers with international ties build nearly the same thing in several places. Other developers may simply copy a pattern that they liked on their vacation. Immigrants throughout US history have copied place names, building styles, and other more subtle aspects of their former homes as they built their new lives in America. The New World is not the only place with copy-cat developments or urban styles repeated across many cities, though, and I find myself frequently surprised by how many places in the UK I can find houses that look exactly like the one where I lived in Maidenhead, England back in the early 00\u2019s.<\/p>\n
There are business travellers who say that after a while it all just blends together. All hotels are one hotel. All the streets are just different versions of some theoretical street. No matter where you are in the world, buildings are just boxes where people avoid the elements while they work or sleep. For some the sameness becomes a form of disenchantment.<\/p>\n
I feel like there is some hint in the sameness, some spiritual truth, if you will. This may just be a rehash of the old, \u201cWe are all One\u201d meme, but it rings true. Where ever you go, there are familiar sights and sounds right alongside the unfamiliar ones, and the more you collect experiences, the more familiar ones you find at every corner.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has followed me everywhere. I can see by the news that each place has gotten sunny after I leave it, so the rain must be following me around like a lost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1295,"featured_media":2363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[193,102],"tags":[623,624,159,281,7,8,625,20,60,103,9],"class_list":["post-2361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boundary-crossing","category-journeys","tag-architecture","tag-city-planning","tag-culture","tag-experience","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-patterns","tag-place","tag-spirituality","tag-travel","tag-urban"],"yoast_head":"\n
Different And The Same<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Different And The Same\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Sense of Place\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-22T16:31:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-22T16:35:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/310\/2014\/04\/NetherlandsFlight3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"395\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sterling\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sterling\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/\",\"name\":\"Different And The Same\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-22T16:31:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-22T16:35:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#\/schema\/person\/7796307b9d4aadf674c31cee131f3b78\"},\"description\":\"Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Different And The Same\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/\",\"name\":\"A Sense of Place\",\"description\":\"Pagans encounter the land beneath their feet\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#\/schema\/person\/7796307b9d4aadf674c31cee131f3b78\",\"name\":\"Sterling\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1cb85b85f30fea140d87e42d8b547e9?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1cb85b85f30fea140d87e42d8b547e9?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Sterling\"},\"description\":\"When Sterling was 3 years old, her parents packed everything they owned into storage, put a roof rack on their \u201866 VW Bug and spent three months driving with her across the US and Canada. She\u2019s been a nomad ever since. She\u2019s lived in El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, England, Scotland, Israel and several states in the US. Every place is a new spirit to get acquainted with, fall in love with, or struggle with. Her path within Druidry is a spiritual dance of learning the relationships of all the people, human and otherwise, in the context of place. She has a collection of short stories, The Imaginary City and Other Places, which you can read on Kindle or in paperback.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/author\/sterling\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Different And The Same","description":"Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Different And The Same","og_description":"Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/","og_site_name":"A Sense of Place","article_published_time":"2014-04-22T16:31:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-04-22T16:35:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"702","height":"395","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/310\/2014\/04\/NetherlandsFlight3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sterling","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sterling","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/","name":"Different And The Same","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-04-22T16:31:54+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-22T16:35:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#\/schema\/person\/7796307b9d4aadf674c31cee131f3b78"},"description":"Over the past week I have been in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Glasgow, Scotland; London, England; and now I am in Manchester, England. The rain has","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2014\/04\/different-and-the-same\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Different And The Same"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/","name":"A Sense of Place","description":"Pagans encounter the land beneath their feet","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#\/schema\/person\/7796307b9d4aadf674c31cee131f3b78","name":"Sterling","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1cb85b85f30fea140d87e42d8b547e9?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a1cb85b85f30fea140d87e42d8b547e9?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Sterling"},"description":"When Sterling was 3 years old, her parents packed everything they owned into storage, put a roof rack on their \u201866 VW Bug and spent three months driving with her across the US and Canada. She\u2019s been a nomad ever since. She\u2019s lived in El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, England, Scotland, Israel and several states in the US. Every place is a new spirit to get acquainted with, fall in love with, or struggle with. Her path within Druidry is a spiritual dance of learning the relationships of all the people, human and otherwise, in the context of place. She has a collection of short stories, The Imaginary City and Other Places, which you can read on Kindle or in paperback.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/author\/sterling\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/310\/2014\/04\/NetherlandsFlight2.jpg\" "\\"Netherlands")
<\/a>