Nostalgic Energy
So, the other day I met this guy, and he was talking about the past, living a bit on memories, and he was mid-30s. And I wondered: really? Because I’m mid-30, and I’ll keep pretending to stay mid-30 for a while thankyouverymuch, and I am always suspicious of the nostalgia trap. Isn’t that something for an old mind? Or maybe not.
Who was this guy?
He’s a very kind soul living in a beautiful corner of the US, which isn’t a bad place to live in if you’ve got the money. Turns out he has got that money because he’s working in some hot shot tech company and had a job title I immediately forgot. He loves his job, his job loves him, and he gets pushed up the career ladder faster than one can read the list of possible side effects of a covid vaccine. Good for him.
He also loves to watch the sea, the waves, the surf, enjoying nature. Enter covid (that nasty word again, should have planned this better) onto the stage that is 2020, puking all over the place. Suddenly like everyone else except the Swedish he’s stuck at home.
Alone.
A whole lot of singles got stuck home alone in 2020. Not a revelation, but still sucks for those folks. So that makes you think. Made him think. And not happy thoughts either.
So far so normal so everybody.
But then he told me what helps him, before and after covid, is looking at pictures of the sea. The walls in his house are full of them. They’re like an ocean but dry. And those happy memories pull him out of the swamp of miserable mind drowning. Memories help him survive.
So why have I been talking of a nostalgia trap?
Nostalgia is looking back fondly. Not just that: It’s missing the past. I’ve always been wary of it because I do have a nostalgic streak, starting by missing the womb even before someone slapped me welcome, and then ever since.
But we don’t want to spend our lives looking back, right? Makes for dangerous driving, too.
So then him and I, we pondered if nostalgia can be useful and this question formed in my mind and I’m now asking it to you, yes you:
Can you turn that fuzzy warm feeling in your chest, that smile on your lips, that positive surge that is nostalgia into energy for the now, for the future, for the remaining part of your life?
Can you use nostalgic energy not just to survive, but to move on?
Or is it just a swamp with a sweet stench, to be drained and have a condo built on top of?