Nostalgia - Are you drawn to it?

[Jason Evans]

How strongly do you feel nostalgia? Do you find yourself consciously assembling a trove of nostalgic triggers? Like songs, books, photographs, places, etc. that you sometimes turn to in order to re-experience emotions?

I find that I use these things as frozen, preserved emotions that I can explore and probe and analyze over time. Sometimes I just want to return to a feeling that I felt before, especially a particular time in the past. But I do think analysis is part of it. I want to understand exactly why I felt that way. Maybe because I want to feel that way more, and it's frustrating that it comes and goes apparently outside of my control.

Your thoughts?

 

[DeadonDreaming]

I love nostalgia. It makes my heart go pitter patter.

 

[Hawkeye]

The problem with nostalgia is that it is a biased feeling that cannot be replicated in reality.

Nothing is ever as good as you "remember" it being.

Whilst I do enjoy nostalgia, I make a habit of leaving those feelings as a collection of memories, rather than trying to emulate them today. It saves disappointment.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I love it. It always seems to take me by surprise, like if I smell something that brings me back or hear a noise or piece of music. The other month I heard that dial up sound (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svmYyeRY11o). Ah, memories.

 

[TriflinThomas]

Yes, and Retro design. I think it's an Si thing.

 

[PhoenixRising]

I don't really put much stock into nostalgia, or regret for that matter. As much as possible, I live in the present and look to the future. I do have some videos of my Grandmother singing that bring back memories, but that's more of honoring the presence of a loved one than nostalgia I think. Sometimes I wish I were a teenager again, perhaps that is the nostalgia of the aging? lol

 

[Fukyo]

I can be very nostalgic about my own past experiences, but I don't feel idealized nostalgia for some past era I never lived in.

 

[Vladimir]

I am drawn to it, yes. I'm only 17, yet I am drawn to things of my young childhood like iron to a magnet. Some of them, anyway.

 

[ℜεмїηїs¢εη¢ε]

I don't have any nostalgic items, if I have something that I don't need I usually throw it away. The only things I have in my room is a bed, desk, lamp, computer,piano, and the clothes in my closet. Sometimes I can be nostalgic with my memories though... I just moved to another state so I miss seeing my old friends.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Not only do I occasionally mentally revisit my own past experiences and prefer media that induce the feeling of ambiance & nostalgia, I also seem to gravitate towards cultural media and other relics that have aged well.

I do think it's cognition/perception related, as present-day events just pass over me and the time-tested aspects are the ones that stick.

For a clear example, there are all kinds of music out there, and every day something new is happening. But I prefer to look for new music, even the indie and underground stuff, in what's been around for awhile, and I prefer to research past events in history rather than keep in current times.

I will say, getting out of my head and getting involved in the present is refreshing however.

 

[Jason Evans]

For a clear example, there are all kinds of music out there, and every day something new is happening. But I prefer to look for new music, even the indie and underground stuff, in what's been around for awhile, and I prefer to research past events in history rather than keep in current times.

I do something peculiar (or not) with music. Sometimes a feeling hits me in the present that I just know is going to be one of those special emotions/moments that will stick with me for a long, long time. Whatever newish song is around that I like becomes locked with that emotion. Then, in the future, when I hear that song, it will take me back to that moment, and I'll feel maybe 60 - 70% of the "recorded" emotion. But that's better than nothing. It becomes a kind of journal of emotions that I can flip back through.

 

[Nick]

Nostalgia

Do you find yourself being overtly nostalgic when you reminisce about the past vs others?

Would you say you have a better innate ability to visualize not just the past moments but you can also correlate your exact feelings with those memories from the past into the present time.

 

[Duxwing]

I'm a huge nostalgia guy. I keep all my little trinkets so that I can go back and review my life when the need arises. The experience of nostalgic life-review is an emotional anaesthetic that acts much like reading my favorite story book on a sad day; my emotions are stirred, my will is drummed up, and as I wipe the tears from my eyes I feel a new strength coursing through me. Overall, going back to the past is an excellent though temporary escape from the pains of the present.

Nevertheless, I examine the past as objectively as I can. I don't long for the days of old because the days of old were, in a word, crumby. Yet looking back on my past gives me a greater understanding of my self and the narrative of my life: Child into adult, adult into elder, and elder into legend. And I hope that when my mind and hopes and dreams are gone, my story will remain and be studied by the future generations of humankind.

-Duxwing

 

[joal0503]

is it possible to be nostalgic about time periods you didn't exist (human form) in yet?

 

[Adrift]

I like it when I find old items from my past. It can be a nice feeling to "relive" the events that may have coincided with said item.
That said, I make no effort at all to keep anything. I usually go through modes of cleaning and find things... I then think "why the hell do I still have this?" and proceed to trash it.