The View from the Timeline: The Power of the Re-View

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

Do you find value in rereading books, or rewatching movies?

I absolutely find value in both, though I tend to engage in a “re-view” of movies far more often than I do a reread of books. I’ve always been a creature of comfort. I’ve heard it said that seeking out the familiar can be a trait of neurodivergence; whether or not I’m on the spectrum is anyone’s guess, but I do know I have “comfort movies” that act as a reset button for my brain.

Finding the North Star

Since moving back home during the 2020 lockdowns, that “reset button” has frequently been Star Trek. My fandom had gone somewhat dormant in the early 2000s, but when the world felt like it was shifting under our feet, I found myself drawn back to the optimism of the final frontier. Tuning into the nightly “Heroes and Icons” block—revisiting the Original Series, Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine—became a required ritual. In a time of global chaos, I desperately needed that Trek perspective: a steady, hopeful vision of a future where we actually figure things out.

Apprenticeship in the Margins

My relationship with books is a bit more intentional. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve moved away from passive consumption and become an “active reader.” Interestingly, this shift started in the classroom. Active reading has become a cornerstone of our curriculum, and I realized early on that if I was going to teach my students how to engage with a text, I had to apprentice what I preach. I used to just underline key quotes, but once I started teaching the “why” behind active reading, I began doing much more. I highlight, annotate, and scribble notes in the margins of everything I touch. Now, even if I’ve read a story a dozen times, I have to reread it before presenting it to my students. Every year, I find new nuances in Romeo and Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Crucible. It isn’t just about refreshing my memory; it’s about modeling the curiosity I want them to have.

Older, Wiser, and Marked Up

The most profound value in rereading, however, is the “View from the Timeline.” I couldn’t even tell you how many times I’ve revisited The Autobiography of Malcolm X. In fact, I’ve previously explored why The Autobiography of Malcolm X is my favorite book of all time. I don’t always read it cover-to-cover anymore; often, I flip through to find the lines I’ve highlighted over the years, checking in with my past self.

Lately, I’ve been considering a “legacy refresh.” I don’t want to get rid of my original, marked-up copy, but I want to read a fresh one through my 2026 eyes. There is an Audacity of Potential in returning to a familiar text after a decade of growth. I want to see what a version of me that is ten years older—and hopefully a little wiser—deems important today versus what moved me then.

In the end, we don’t just reread books because the stories change; we reread them because we have.

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The article “The View from the Timeline: The Power of the Re-View” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.