The word again allows a new event to arrive wearing an old event’s expectations.

Again brings history into the present moment. The new event arrives already carrying the expectations of the previous one, and it is judged against them before anything has happened, which is why a second attempt at something is rarely met on its own terms. Repetition is never neutral.

So when something recurs, try naming what you are importing from last time. Is this person doing that thing, or does it resemble something someone else did. Giving a repeat situation a genuinely fresh look is difficult and it is the only way a second chance is really a second chance.