Idiom for tinkering and then returning to what you had at first?
I'm trying to think of a good idiom/phrase for the process of questioning what you have, tinkering with it and finally returning to what you had at first. Specifically returning accidentally, then thinking "oh that's exactly what I had originally."
Reason - I do this a lot when writing essays, just curious if there's a phrase for it.
Solution 1:
It probably isn't the best term for what you want, but you could say "He came full circle." That term simply means that something has completed a cycle, returning to its beginning.