Category: Nostalgia

What makes you feel nostalgic?

Nostalgia is a tricky thing. It can create happy feelings or sad ones, and sometimes a longing for days gone by. For me, it’s a series of memories from moments in my past that can be triggered by a sense of smell, sounds, conversations, old movies, and more. I can easily think of many things that evoke that feeling of nostalgia in my life. I can get nostalgic for moments and memories in my past that are happy more than sad, so I appreciate that! Here are come of the ones that create that feeling for me.

Old photos bring a ton of memories flowing through my mind and heart and appreciating those moments through them. I remember the people mainly, but also sometimes the occasion in which they were taken. Photos of my children are particularly powerful, as well of my parents and relatives. Suffice it to say, family is everything to me.

The contrast of today’s world can trigger moments of nostalgia for years past. In particular, dinner around the table together with family or friends without everyone on their phones can really take me back to days where we spent more time talking and listening to one another than staring at our phones. I appreciate that I have lived in a world where I didn’t have technology growing up, unlike today’s children. While I appreciate technology today, I do get nostalgic for the days when we just lived a more simpler life.

Music is one of my favorite things and I listen to music from other decades often. It brings me back to those moments in time when I was in high school and college, or studying abroad. I think most of us probably have songs that bring up memories of that time, or remind us of a person. Recently, I heard a song in the car radio that reminded me of when I was dating my ex-husband before we were married. I mentioned it to a daughter who as in the car with me at the time. I’m not sure she quite understood, since we went through a contentious divorce. Even so, the song created a lot of nice memories to cherish.

I studied abroad in Mexico, Argentina and Spain both in high school and during my undergraduate days of college. These experiences were deeply profound and life-changing for me. I spent more time in Spain and I’m often reminded of how much I loved it there. I can get nostalgic for my time there when eating certain foods, hearing music, or talking with friends I met there.

There are so many other experiences, things and people that can create a feeling of nostalgia for me. After all, they are moments in my life. I am very grateful and appreciative that I have a memory to remember them. They are a reminder to me to be present as I go through life.