"Both Sides of Nostalgia " by Yasameen F

            Nostalgia, by definition, is “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” Most of us experience nostalgia somewhat often and tend to brush it off as a comforting yet reminiscent feeling that we typically associate with being happy or just as an overall positive emotion. Despite the common notion of nostalgia being most often associated with optimism, I would argue that nostalgia is a predominantly negative, or even sad emotion. That being said, nostalgia isn’t something that we should avoid or fear just because it can make us sad, it is a strong and powerful emotion that we should embrace, despite the negative feelings it may create.

            When most people think of what makes them feel nostalgic, they often think of old television shows or movies that they used to watch as a kid, or even songs that they listened to as children, but nostalgia often goes deeper than what we first notice on the surface. As humans, we tend to associate certain memories or periods of time in our lives with small and specific details that remind us of those moments. Therefore, we are often reminded of past experiences and memories through subtle and even trivial details which most times creates a sort of melancholic feeling. That feeling is what we call nostalgia and is often a longing or reminiscing on previous times in our life that we know that we can never relive again, but we also cannot forget the happy memories and experiences we had during that time. It is overall a mixed emotion, found somewhere in the gray area between a happy remembrance and a painful recollection of memories. Regardless of the negative or positive emotions created when feeling nostalgic, the feeling itself is so intense that we often find ourselves gravitating towards anything that sparks those strong feelings within us.

            Nostalgia is a feeling that we are dealing with constantly though we oftentimes don’t realize it. We are often influenced by our previous experiences and how they made us feel, and we tend to gravitate towards anything that can remind us of good memories, hence the infatuation many have with things that remind us of our childhood. For example, many adults are obsessed with properties such as Disney, Marvel, or Pokemon and older adults often enjoy listening to 80’s or 90’s music since that was the time in which they grew up. This is because it reminds them of the happier memories of their childhood, and we as humans repeat this behavior in other aspects of our lives. We love surrounding ourselves with things that remind us of nothing but happy thoughts and memories, which also means that we often distance ourselves from anything that can remind us of any memories that can be remembered as upsetting or traumatic. This, in part, is a coping mechanism as we do not want to expose ourselves to anything that can cause us pain, but it is also a way that we shelter ourselves from coming to terms with previously troubling experiences or memories.

I think that we need to accept the fact that most times, nostalgia makes us feel emotions that we don’t particularly want to deal with, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Coming to terms with our past is something that we all must do in order to be able to move forward in life, therefore we should be embracing the “sadder” and more difficult side of nostalgia as much as we embrace the other, more exciting and enjoyable side of it as both are beneficial to us in different ways.

 

"nostalgia, n.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2021. Web. 18 February 2022.