Since I first heard of Socrates, I have felt a strange affinity with him and by the time I was 20, I had read all of Plato's writings about him. When I was in a philosopy class in 1983 (at age 55) the professor asked if we thought Socrates believed in slavery. Everyone else agreed that he probably did since that was the accepted norm at his time. I suddenly found myself angry and said "No" in no uncertain terms! I was shocked at my anger, but felt that my "friend" had been attacked, for I felt he would never believe in such a thing!

I was in Athens, Greece a couple years later and had to choke back nostalgic tears at my first sight of the city! The next day I felt a strong urge to go to the Northwest from our hotel, so I went off alone, and following my intuition ended up in the city park. There I sat for half an hour in complete serenity feeling more at home than I had ever felt in my hometown. Later when I got lost for two hours, I was never afraid even though I didn't know a word of Greek. A really noteworthy detail is that after viewing Athens (pop. 8 million ) from the airplane and watching the city of a million lights from atop the Acropolis , the first vision of Athens that comes to mind now is that of a small dusty town in a valley. A feeling of nostalgia had pervaded my senses during my entire stay in Athens and now I believe that I was one of the young students who sat at Socrates' feet in that same park over 2000 years ago! I loved him then, and I still do!!

Submitted by Claire



I had an experience when I went to Stockbridge Massachusetts several years ago. It was the first time I'd been there and we went to the "Public House". The woman who was giving the tour was very informative, but I found myself knowing things before she said them. I asked a question about the upstairs bedroom with the blue print quilt. She told me that room had never been opened to the public or pictures shown of it, yet I knew all about it. I could picture it in my mind as if I had lived in that room. Stockbridge itself is a place where, from the moment I arrived there, I knew that I had been there before. It felt like home. I had never (in this lifetime anyway) been there before. I get the same feeling everytime I go there!

Submitted by Judeline