Nostalgia for the past evokes good memories that sustain and uplift in turbulent times
Andrew Abeyta, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University in Camden, NJ, describes nostalgia as an emotional experience that involves reminiscing about something about your past you find truly special or meaningful.
A 2015 article on nostalgia published in ScienceDirect says recalling idealized memories from past happy times is associated with feelings of warmth, yearning, longing, desire, and wistful affection.
A common view, Abeyta says through an email exchange with Shondaland, is that nostalgia keeps people stuck in the past, unable to live in the present or plan for the future. “However, what we find in psychological research contradicts this view. We find that reflecting on nostalgic memories enriches people’s lives in several ways.
Rutgers-Camden News Now
I love old-fashioned retro and vintage signs, containers, flower pots and other assorted collectibles, now so popular you don’t have to go to a flea market to find them. You just go on Amazon or visit Michael’s craft stores, which I’ve been doing a lot lately since I got my new apartment to fix up. Lots of fun shopping for it, but the main problem being I’ve run out of space. My architecture brother thinks I’m crazy. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.
Tonight I’ve gone through vintage and retro signs, photos, calendar scenes, greeting cards, old postcards, books about the “good old days,” and much more in my large collection of memorabilia, and created this photo album of what I rather randomly put together.
“Idealized memories from past happy times are associated with feelings of warmth, yearning, longing, desire, and wistful affection.” I couldn’t agree more with this statement. All I have to do is read the news online, or look at the grim, almost apocalyptic videos the past few weeks of crazy, frightening extreme weather events all over the world, and I want to immediately find some escape and relief. In symbols, objects and scenes of a happier past, I find some peace and a sense of well being, visiting by this means a past that was decidedly more innocent and happy than now.
A civilized routine of reading good books, taking walks in our parks and gardens, watching magnificent sunsets from three different vantage points— this is what takes my mind off today’s troubles. Again, I emphasize that the past is never completely “the past” for me. I hold onto the good memories and the music, and I cherish them.
An album of vintage and retro scenes, objects and collectibles from days long past: