I recently discovered Vuja De. It is my new favorite expression and not just because I like the way it rolls off my tongue.
I returned from three weeks of meditation and when people ask about my trip, I often struggle to explain how life
altering it feels. Nothing tangible has changed, and yet, everything is brighter and more vibrant and infinitely
altered. I was listening to a lecture by Adam Grant, a professor at Wharton, on the concept of original ideas when
he threw out this term “vuja de.” I literally stopped the car, fumbled with my phone and replayed it three times.
Vuja De is the reverse of deja vu. It goes like this.

Suppose you’re in a situation that is very familiar-perhaps you’re driving to work or doing something else
that you’ve done a hundred times before-and you suddenly feel as if you are experiencing it in a new light,
as if it’s the first time. Waiting for a taxi and notice all the empty cars? Vuja de moment and Uber is born.
It’s a birthplace for original ideas. I researched this further and while it’s an expression used more recently
by Adam Grant and Tom Kelley of famed company IDEO, the term actually originated from comedian George Carlin.

After three weeks of meditation, life feels like a series of vuja de moments.

The thing is, more of us do not experience many of these moments, because we often choose the default options in life. We don’t question the norms of everyday life. If I could offer anything, add this to your bucket list: spend a week away in meditation, or silence, in contemplation, or alone in nature, or in prayer. Find a program or retreat that resonates with you and do yourself a favor, at some point in life, make time for it. Everyone should experience moments of vuja de.

And while I cannot offer you weeks of solitude, I do have options that can spark a bit of vuja de. The two day Awakening the Third Eye meditation workshop coming up June 3 & 4 and is a great way to build and solidify a personal meditation practice and to open you up to deeper states of consciousness.

Another dive into your own originality is through the The Inner Wild Child Immersion. It is filling up quickly, but there are still spots left. Find out what it feels like to rediscover your fearlessness, your creativity and your invincibility.

Go on, take the plunge and experience your brilliance.
Vuja de it.

More on Adam Grant or to watch his Ted Talk: www.adamgrant.net