Feeling Nostalgic

"Memory believes before knowing remembers." - William Faulkner

I'm feeling nostalgic today. Just listening to some music, thinking about the past weekend.

I had a great weekend! I was able to spend a couple quality days just hanging out with the kids. I love it when we plan a weekend full of Fun, Film & Feast. Which for us is basically family game night, movie night, and of course, overindulging in food all rolled into one fantastic weekend! The only problem seems to be getting the Sunday blues at the end of the weekend. I find myself getting nostalgic, not wanting the weekend to end. And, I often resort to listening to great music.

Even after the best of weekends, there is a bit of a cloud that descends in our minds. This feeling we get when we don't want something to end because we've enjoyed it so much reminded me of how we felt as kids not wanting the summer to end, knowing that it will soon be back-to-school. Or also how we even feel as adults after a long weekend or coming off a vacation not wanting that time to end, knowing we're back to starting out another work week. Chances are you've all felt it.

In fact, a 2013 poll from Monster.com showed that 81 percent of American respondents said they get the Sunday-night blues. 59 percent said they experience them really bad. We go from being totally laid-back and enjoyable to becoming uptight and anxious in anticipation of getting back to the grind.

The definition of nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. We leave behind memories of moments of ourselves and when we are feeling our most comfortable, most worthwhile, most happy.

I actually enjoy being nostalgic. Perhaps in some way, it goes hand-in-hand with my love for music. Music is another thing we attach to being nostalgic. Science has shown that songs can stimulate many different brain areas and provide us with a natural dose of dopamine intensifying our moods and feelings. We get sentimental about music from our past. Music can anchor itself to moments in time. I love it when you hear an old song, and it instantly takes you back to that moment in time.

However, we have to be careful we don't hold on to longing for and living in the past. Having fond memories from our past is obviously a good thing. But we have to be careful we don't let those memories hold us back from enjoying today.

I think it can be easy to feel a little sad when we are feeling nostalgic. But I am trying to change that within myself. We should feel good knowing that nostalgia just means we have experienced something extraordinary. A great moment in time that we can now cherish forever. But we should also remind ourselves that there will be more memories to come. With every ending comes an opportunity for a new beginning. 

As irony would have it, it was a lyric from a song that helped to remind me of that fact. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." - From Closing Time by Semisonic.

Basically, you can rest assured that we'll continue to have more great nostalgic moments in the future. This thought alone should create some sense of satisfaction. Today is tomorrow's nostalgia. There will be more good days and memories to come. And we get a chance to start making our future nostalgic moments with each new day.

So feel good about the past for what you have experienced or learned. Feel hopeful for the future for what can be and what you can make it. But live for today because today you can do something about it.

Make today great!

Curtis

"We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time." - Art Buchwald