Human beings have always lived in the past, that’s both their blessing and their curse. The phrase “every past time was better” illustrates this pretty well, in spite of the reality being quite the opposite.

Our corrosive past changes who we are, it mutates us into something that can survive all the hurt and suffering, either in a good way or in a terrible, reclusive way. And our pleasant past, it provides warm light on our darkest days, it makes us happy, just by reminiscing over past Memories, reminding us of a simpler time, a happier time.

Nostalgia holds us back from accepting the present – ThinkOutlandish

The past seems better to us because it is familiar. We know everything about it. We know what went well, we know what went wrong, we know who made us happy, we know who we wanted to hurt. And most importantly, now that we have lived through it, we know how we could have fixed whatever that went wrong in our past.

Nostalgia. It is almost always made up of the partial truth, and the rest of the truth? We conveniently ignore it., we conveniently cast it aside from the story as it doesn’t bring us any joy, rather its sorrow.  Nostalgia has a lesser-known twin sibling, who we all hate. But sadly there is no defined singular name for it. Can you think of some name after reading its description?

We can call it Painful Memories, or Trauma or Remorse. It creeps in during your darkest times, pulling you further into the abyss. It has a knack for cropping up at the worst possible moment. In our lowest moments, one painful memory digs its way through all the crap that we have it buried under. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?

Past memories, situations which we once rejoiced going through, can become demons and torment us once the tables turn. It can be some cute romantic moments with an ex-lover. The same romance which turned to ash in just a finger snap. (Sorry ) Such memories can be anything, ranging from public places like bus stops to a peach pit on the sidewalk or pair of leather boots in the window of a shop (Yeah I know, #FRIENDS)

People seem to think that this cannot be controlled. I beg to differ. You have the power to control what you think. When this happens, you can choose to block it out, you can choose to focus on something less gory, you can choose to keep your mind engaged in something else or you can choose to give up, let it in and let it devour your spirit even more. The first few options seem more likely, don’t they? These are the simplest solutions, but the easiest. The easiest, however, is the last option. And that is also the most damaging. The best things in life are never easy, though this is cliched, this is pretty apt in all walks of our life.

Nostalgia can act as a potent catalyst, driving us to achieve what we once we had, in the event of an aftermath. And at the same time, it can also diminish the significance, the uniqueness and/or the specialty of the current situation.

What once was, and what is, they can never be on the same level. Think about this sentence for one second. What is it trying to say? Can you try to read the unspoken, in this case, the unwritten word?

Nostalgia doesn’t always work like you expect it to. And sometimes it takes effect in a way that you never imagined it to.

Watching some age-old series/ cartoons which we loved as a child, TV Shows like Pokemon, Dexter’s Laboratory, DBZ and Swat Cats, among many others, but those are my top picks, brings back fond memories, which make us envy as well as despise the world that the new generation of humans is growing up in. On one hand, we wish we could relive that time of our lives again, and on the other, we hate what children’s entertainment has now become.

There’s no doubt that nostalgia can bring us great joy. Often at times, when you see someone smiling ear to ear for no apparent reasons, it is a good bet that he/ she is having flashbacks from his past, flashes of happy memories in front of his eyes, triggered by something in the immediate vicinity. It can be an object as simple as a soda bottle, or something sensory as the smell of a perfume.

Here’s the view on nostalgia, of someone that you’ve heard from the recent past, SnuggleBear14.
You might remember her as the Extrovert from the Extrovert VS Introverts post.

Hi again. It’s Kanchan or as he (Rahul) introduced me as SnuggleBear14.

Often I have seen people use this word in their Instagram or WhatsApp stories and when googled it the meaning was deep which says it is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

It is a unique phenomenon as it fuses both positive and negative experiences and emotions resulting in a total different, baffling and bizarre mood.

As a young girl, I grew up with my Grandmother. For some reasons away from my parent and for good 7 years. We all know, no one can love us like our mother. But I would say that no one could ever love me like my grandmother ever did. She cared like it was no one’s business..! She gave me all the love, the care and it was just amazing. No words can ever define her love for me. But as young girl somewhere down the line I couldn’t return it to her the way she did. And when she was gone, she was gone. It was too late for me. So much was still remaining, for her to see and for me to tell. But it was all gone. My only regret ever since was, she did not know what she meant to me.

Whenever we have a fond memory, it often elicit feelings of love, warmth, and belonging. In those moments, the past seems rosy, and often as more positive than the present. Nostalgia can be induced by thinking about past events, by going to places you have experienced before, or even by hearing a song that brings back memories of things that happened.

However, almost simultaneously, the same fond memory may also elicit feelings of loss and longing. So how are we supposed to interpret this state of mind? Is it beneficial or harmful to our mental health? Just like most things in this world, it is both, and it is complex.

At times when I focus on the good parts of it or the positive part of it I tend to get a boost of positive or happy thoughts. It does help me in making a better person when I think about what she used to teach me which I didn’t follow then but definitely do now.

When we are bored, sad or not really happy, our minds may be drawn to times when we were happy and our life was full of fun, adventure, love. Theories say this can counteract our initial emotional state, and leave us feeling hopeful about our futures and ourselves. If it happened then, it can happen again. But honestly it only sometimes happen that way the rest of the time, it makes me feel hopeless about the present. I feel sad that those things in life are not there now.

Then again this thought raises a question in my mind, “Is thinking about this really going to help? Is it going to change anything at all?” When I did read about this further on the internet I could conclude one thing which is – Overall, nostalgia can be a great tool to enhance your well-being. It can help in difficult times, help overcome fears of mortality, give your life more meaning and in situations where you need psychological help or rather self-motivation. I would encourages people to use it as an exercise for those who can take it in a positive way.

However, for those who may be avoidant, neurotic, or habitual worriers, this is probably not the best way to spend your time. Instead developing mindfulness to focus on the present and the possibilities of the future, instead of dwelling on the perceived loss of the past is the best way to have a happy life.

Hope you all could relate to this and it was of some help. Once again a big thanks to my dear friend and ThinkOutlandish for this opportunity. Keep up the good work..!

When we go through everything, we set aside the time of our lives for that moment. We invest a part of us to get through that situation and that situation becomes a part of us. We build sand castles out of thin air with those memories.

These castles can get become a beautiful rustic place to live, or you can get trapped inside, with crocodiles swimming around it. How we end the situations determines our nostalgic memories.

But, our mind, is a jackass, and also a really nice guy. But more on this, on my friends’ blog. This will be another partner post, with one of my best friends. Check it out here, The trip down Memory Lane Part 2