Bring the Joy of the Past Into the Present

Christmas Season is upon us and the sounds, sights, and smells all signal the holidays are in full swing, even during a pandemic.

Stores still have wrapping paper, and bows, all shiny and bright, and toys, candies, and gifts galore all beckon us to purchase them for the joy of season.

This year, I asked my children to remember something special about Christmas as a gift this year, and instead, their father put short videos up of the children singing Christmas Songs and being really cute. They were encouraged by me during the school day to sing songs and then they were recorded. The memories were precious to me.

Remember, nostalgia comes to play with our memories.

Remember Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the little Misfits? The New Year’s Baby and other animated cartoons of yesteryear, like Frosty the Snowman? Just mentioning their titles brings me back to my childhood, and remembering hot chocolate, peanut butter toast and the roaring fireplace my dad would light at Christmas time.

My favorite season is full of happy memories. Nostalgia and Christmas fit together in my world. Not so for others, however, we can find and use what works for us in the world of memories.

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An excessive or constant exploration of our history, in nostalgia-related focus deters from people’s reality. They tend to detract from the events of the present moment. The benefits of nostalgia as acknowledged by University of Southampton research team explore the correlation between looking back to gain strength and encouragement when we are going through difficult times.

“Hepper, Ritchie, Sedikides, and Wildschut (2012, Emotion) describe nostalgia as a complex emotion that involves past-oriented cognition and a mixed affective signature. The emotion is often triggered by encountering a familiar smell, sound, or keepsake, by engaging in conversations, or by feeling lonely.”

Experts used to warn against living in the past, but new studies show the importance of memories. They have positive effects on coping skills and mood. There are constructive ways to go back and honor the nostalgic moments of your life.

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Major Benefits of Nostalgia

Feel more connected. The University of Southampton in England is one of the leaders in documenting the impact of nostalgia. Among their findings, they suggest that collective memories make us feel a sense of belonging. Nostalgia gives us our roots and helps us empathize. You begin to understand yourself better.

Looking back also creates more continuity in our lives. We learn how our background influences us today. By exploring your life in the past, you can see where your current experiences blend. As you look back you may discover a deeper meaning in your life. Naturally, we tend to focus on important times and people. This makes it easier to see our overall direction and purpose. As you review parts of your life, you may increase your self-confidence. Those who regularly indulge in nostalgia also report greater self-esteem. This is a great opportunity to reflect on your accomplishments and witness how you thrive through adversity.

Recalling good times is an instant mood booster. Include the conversation with friends and family, and you’ll all be laughing and connecting over past memories sometimes you might have forgotten all about until the moment someone mentions your antics as a teen. By seeing the times you worked through tough emotions or events, you strengthen your coping skills. There are also practical advantages to looking back. If you tend to be nostalgic, you’ll demonstrate greater resiliency.

So, since we cannot literally time travel in a machine, we can gather memories, mementos, and other tidbits of life and close our eyes. We then mentally time travel. The little trips boost the mood and helps us connect with happier times.

“Since nostalgia involves mentally time traveling to personally treasured past experiences, it may allow individuals opportunities to re-experience the pleasant emotions felt during those times. For example, think about a time in which you looked through an old photo album. How did it make you feel?” (Routledge, 2016, p. 44)

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Time travel at your fingertips

Advertisers often invoke the past because they know it sells everything from refrigerators to shampoo. You might even try to put nostalgia to work for you. People are more apt to consider what you have to offer if you can connect them with their positive past experiences.

Remember, nostalgia comes to play with our memories. Memories provide meaningful connections, lift your spirits, and strengthen your relationships. Turn on the computer and explore the online world. Ironically, modern technology makes it easier to access our history. You’re only a few keystrokes away from viewing classic TV shows or ordering the movie candy you grew up eating.

Sometimes, once you recall a specific memory, the brain will connect to similar experiences and send you a few other ideas you thought you had forgotten. One of the benefits of remembering is to reminisce with others. If you each out to family and friends they may help you remember and relive the memories of high school, your first prom, or the first kiss. As you view past experiences as enriching you’ll gain perspective.

However, if yesterday looks better than today, you may be troubled by a sense of loss. Recognize the value of the past to get you where you are today, by shifting the mental paradigm. Ty to focus on how everything comes together to make you who you are. Accept good times at face value. Go ahead and glamorize your first car.

One frustration is in acceptance. You may have to process complex events. Even if there were troubles in your childhood, you lost a best friend to death, or your first marriage ended you may still be able to extract some meaning to show you personal growth happened as time moved forward. Even amidst the hard times, there will probably still be fond memories you can look back on.

Monitor your mood and reactions. It’s natural to become nostalgic when you feel sad or lonely. Realize that you can access old memories anytime, regardless of your mood.

By all means, to begin collecting memories take pictures. Collect and display photos of the things and people you love. Update your computer wallpaper with a photo from your latest vacation. Hang a string of photos with little lights on it to remind you of the moments in time which mattered. Find ones which reflect you now.

Photo by Andrew Teoh on Unsplash

For instance, in my mother’s wooden box lay all kinds of tokens of life past, and love lived. Photos of her and my father called me to ponder their time together, a long 46 year marriage. I love looking in this special box. It reminds me, that even though life was hard she had great love for my father.

Songs provide a powerful connection to our memories. Have you ever heard a certain song on the radio and been immediately transported back in time? Share your favorite childhood songs with your own children. We all have the favorite songs of the season, and maybe a song sticks perfectly with you and your partner. Reminiscence together! Show your children your childhood toys out of the attic. If you don’t have access to them, look for images or scan used stores. If you no longer own your favorite old board game, look for it at garage sales or shop for it online.

Give the present and future ample attention.

Even as you take a trip down memory lane, it’s still important to attend to what’s currently going on in your life and prepare for your future. We can time travel whenever we want. Obviously we need to be balanced in our life. Looking back to move forward is a powerful tool. We can learn from our past so we do not repeat the same mistakes in the future.

Lay conceptions depict nostalgia as a multifaceted blended emotion involving reflection on, and longing for, a fond and relational past. Far from reflecting the negative view of nostalgia that dominated much of its intellectual history, current lay conceptions return to the Homeric view that nostalgia entails deriving meaning and emotions from fond memories of relationships (Hepper, Ritchie, & Sedikides, & Wildschut, 2012).

Keep a healthy balance when thinking about the past, present, and future. As you go on about your exploration of mental time travel, take a good look at today and relish the gifts of time. We have been given a great expanse to explore, the current life we live, and the pictures we can take which capture special times. Learn from the past, move toward the future, and find nostalgia as a gift.

Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

~Just a thought by Pamela

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Resources

Hepper, E. G., Ritchie, T. D., Sedikides, C., & Wildschut, T. (2012). Odyssey’s end: Lay conceptions of nostalgia reflect its original Homeric meaning. Emotion, 12, 102–119

Routledge, C. (2016). Nostalgia : a psychological resource. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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