our relationship with nostalgia
As a result of the recent Barbie hype and my established interest in girly things, the Internet revealed to me something that I hadn’t had in about a decade—a fashion doll. And not just any fashion doll: I was always more of a Bratz girl. From there, I fell down a rabbit hole that brought a unique feeling of sentiment and longing for plastic figurines—with their stylish outfits and curious proportions—that I had given up years ago. The rediscovery flushed me with memories of girlhood and reminded me of a much simpler time when it was just me, my dolls and the imaginary world I’d created around them.
The way nostalgia makes a mountain of old feelings can have quite the effect on us. We feel warmed, less lonely and often, we’re left in a positive mood. Its effect is felt when we rewatch old Saturday morning cartoons, when we find an old relic or rekindle with someone from our past.
An integral part of nostalgia’s effect on us is that it is often rooted in childhood memories. It is much more pleasant to replay scenes of this innocent period of our lives than to ponder on moments from our late teenage years, perhaps because those moments aren’t marked by the same childlike wonder. It is the realization of the simplicity of past that makes us want to grab hold of it in the present—to relive a field trip to the most ordinary place or to taste that snack we’d have everyday after school.
We might also realize, upon examining an artifact with more mature eyes, that nostalgia can often undermine the reality of our experience. The movie we’d once been able to watch over and over again becomes, in fact, a bit cringey or not as good as we’d remembered. But we still revel in every minute of it because it’s really not about the movie—it’s about the time of day and the fact that your siblings were watching too and there was a bowl of popcorn being shared.
Our relationship with nostalgia—this complex but widely shared blend of memory and emotion—can help us connect with our past selves through these windows in time. It truly is a feeling like no other.
What brings you nostalgia?
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