Nostalgia

Through Rose Tinted Glasses

by Kenai Nathanael form XIIA5

    One time me and a good friend took the train home. Despite barely any words being exchanged between us, the peaceful feeling I felt while sitting beside one of the coolest people I’ve ever met is something I will always remember. Now, every time I get on that train I get reminded of that pleasant memory. In a way,  the train itself is no longer just a way for me to get home, but also a reminder of that day spent with my good friend.

Nostalgia is something few haven’t heard about. It’s tough to dig through social media without seeing at least one mention about nostalgia. It’s not that surprising as everyone experiences nostalgia to some extent. In fact, the story above is my own personal experience of nostalgia, a warm fuzzy feeling in my chest as I remember that train ride.

 So what exactly is nostalgia? According to the Oxford Dictionary, nostalgia is “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or a place with happy personal associations.” It’s an emotion, usually bittersweet, that comes from being reminded of  a positive past event. It can come from many things, like pictures, tv shows, music, smells, really anything that can hold memories. In fact, a 2022 study reported that around 300.000-500.000 years ago, in what is now Israel, inhabitants would keep and repair old flint tools instead of the easier alternative of making new tools from scratch. This behavior has led researchers to theorize that they were kept because of the memories they held and the emotions that came with it.

There’s another kind of nostalgia, a nostalgia for the past that one hasn't lived in. An example is someone saying that they were born in the wrong generation. A more concrete example is the online vaporwave movement of the 2010’s. Hundreds of teenagers and young adults making music to specifically evoke nostalgia about, usually, the 80s. Most of the vaporwave community were too young to even see the large malls or even CRTs they glorify, yet there they were making songs by slowing down 80s tunes that were made before they were born.

This nostalgia, or what some people suggest we call “anemoia”, is mostly connected to dissatisfaction with the present. The world often feels like it's just getting worse and worse, and it can be really tempting to latch on to this idea that the past was better. It also coincides with pessimism or cynicism.

So why do we feel nostalgia, and is it a good thing? From the aforementioned 2022 study we can say that nostalgia itself has been part of humanity for a long time. Nostalgia helps us notably in 3 ways: Increasing social connection, reinforcing your personal narrative, and giving meaning. The fondness we have for our memories and the fondness others share about our memories, helps us get closer together. Our memories help us build a narrative about our life, which is important for our mental well being. And finally just like how my local train can hold memories about my friend, nostalgia gives extra meaning to things and in turn gives more meaning to our lives.

Nostalgia can also help us in the future. A 2019 study showed a comparison between university students who savored their final year versus those who didn’t. Those who did got nostalgic faster, around 4 to 5 months after their graduation. Those who did also had a more optimistic outlook. There’s also anticipated nostalgia, the idea is to tell yourself that at some point you’ll be nostalgic about what's happening in the current moment. This in turn should make you more present and more optimistic.

However nostalgia can harm us in many ways. For people who struggle with depression or similar issues, nostalgia can make their problems worse. Nostalgia less becomes the motivator as mentioned and more as a comparison on how far things have gone down. For them, nostalgia leaves them living in the past instead of the present.

On a much larger scale, nostalgia can be used to facilitate radical beliefs like xenophobia. Here nostalgia is paired together with “look what have they taken from us”. For example, is to have nostalgia about your old job, then now think about how immigrants are “taking jobs”. Here, the strong emotion of nostalgia is used to bring out hatred.

Nostalgia can feel really good and comfortable, but we will need to take the rose tinted glasses off. Nostalgia is only as good as how we frame it. When we take those rose tinted glasses off, and we see the gray of our every day, what do we do? Do we ruminate over how far the world, and in extension our life, has fallen downwards? Maybe decide that the present is wrong and turn your nostalgia into hatred? Or aim to make more memories that we can look fondly towards.