Great Gatsby quote...WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Question

"He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was..."

Answer 1

ur mom

Answer 2

Although I'm not sure and I don't have the full-text in front of me maybe the "thing" is that something that made him love Daisy. That "specialness" about her that made him crazy for her.

Answer 3

He feels that he has lost part of himself by being so in love with her.  If he could go back to the time before this, he could find out what he gave up of himself.