the secret of my success

it's like that faint distant memory you have about something - a movie you saw once when you were younger. over the course of the years to follow you only had occasion to recall any thought of the movie maybe a few times. the details get fuzzier and fuzzier as the days go marching on. the world spins and spins and there is no apparent vacuum left behind as it seems to slip away, unnoticed.
but then someone asks you about it: "ever see such-and-such?" and if the timing of the question is right, and the subject of the question is also, you rewind the tape in your head. vague pictures of sitting in front of the tv so many years ago, or a hazy memory of sitting in the theatre watching the movie for the first and only time come streaming into your head. you vocalize your memories to the person who's asking. you might tell a short story or add a quick anecdote.
and maybe the person was just curious, maybe they didn't have much else to say about the subject, and so they turn their attention to something else; another topic of conversation. but just before you switch gears in your head- it occurs to you: that movie has been there in your life all along, at least since the first time you saw it. it has been there, living quietly in your memory, living quietly in your heart for the right moment to be reborn. and there is something about the way it makes you feel to think about it. it wasn't on the surface a month ago. it is fresh. it is both old and new to you at once... and there is comfort in the familiarity, and there is unabashed excitement at the newness. when one of these questions comes along, you can't be anything but thankful.

and i am.