Nostalgia: Snapshots of
the Past!
By Allen Merritt ©2018
Everyone is fascinated
with taking photos…of everything. “Selfies” continue to dominate our picture
taking. No doubt, the next level down from a “selfie” is capturing our food and
drinks in a restaurant followed by persons, places and things we come across in
our daily adventures. This is the epitome of nostalgia.
The result is:
Positivity is alive and well.
One can see it in past
endeavors and experiences such as thinking back on memorable events
(established and created memories), past photographs, music, saved cards and
letters and old videos. It is also found in our closets and treasure chests
filled with clothes we used to wear and keepsakes we have since stored away for
just the right moment to accidentally on purpose stumble upon. All of which may
bring a smile to our face. It is like opening a time capsule. This is a good
thing. It's fun!
Getting nostalgic is one
way to describe this. We re-visit the past not to live in it, but to be
enhanced and enriched by it; to re-connect with ourselves and others in some
way. There is a reason why memorabilia is so valuable to us.
The past comes alive
again when we run across someone we used to interact with after many years or
when we go through our rolodex and are drawn to give someone a call for which we
have had little to no contact with in ages…a blast from the past moment. I find
it fun to check in on people from time to time. This fills my soul with a sense
of gladness and appreciation both of which lead to creating positive energy and
space in the world. After all, people come into our life for a reason even if
it is only for a season!
I was thinking how
wonderful it is to get nostalgic. I feel benefitted by it in many ways.
Additionally, I believe it is the root system which continues to be watered by
our everyday journey through life, loving and learning.
Without nostalgic
trinkets we would never know anything about what lies ahead or how to move
forward, because we would have no reference for which to go by. In other words,
we’d be faced entirely with nothing but unknowns. And while the future is
unknown, we at least have some experience to guide us by looking into our past
and remembering aspects of it passed down by those who came before. Nostalgia
means standing on the shoulders of giants! If nothing else, it reminds us we
have the ability to push through to the next chapter despite any uncertainties
and unknowns.
An article in Scientific
American discusses nostalgia as it relates to feeling more vital, serving a
positive function in our lives to help improve mood and mental health. It
speaks to it as…, “a psychological immune response that is triggered when you
experience little bumps in the road.” ¹
We want to feel good. We
want to feel that positive energy flow through our body.
The Huffington Post
describes nostalgia as, “far from being a feeble escape from the present,” but
rather “a source of strength, enabling the individual to face the future.” It
helps encourage a sense of calm, counters anything negative and encourages
well-being. The H.P. article also proposes the following as it relates to
nostalgia. It “strengthens approach orientation, raises optimism, evokes
inspiration, boosts creativity and kindles pro-sociality and compassion.”²
Now, this conversation can’t ignore our past
negative memories. Every person certainly has their fair share of experiences,
but even those teach us to grow. They remind us what we don’t want. Teach us
what not to do. Some of the past we learn to let go of so it does not hold us back. They elicit responses not to repeat mistakes. More importantly,
I think it aides in promoting a better tomorrow.
In short, positivity lives in our past, present
and future. We just have to tap into it more often to reap its benefits.
Take a look into your memory banks, scrapbooks
and photo albums and see if it doesn’t give you a good feeling and stir up some
positivity for you!
So go ahead and take the selfie! Make some
memories!
Have a fun week!
Cheers!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-nostalgia-is-good-for-you/
(Viewed on 8/13/2018)¹
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-nostalgia-makes-us-happy-and-healthy_us_5859bda4e4b04d7df167cb8d
(Viewed on 8/13/2018)²
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