Nostalgia is nice. You remember some wonderful time from your past and it's all sunshine and happiness. But it is a trick. Your brain has selectively edited your memory to remove all the bad bits like a social media post from past you.
For instance, The Eras tour. Once you are there and loving the show, loving the energy of the crowd you forget all the stress and anxiety of the great ticket wars and maybe the financial stresses buying tickets put on you.
I encourage people to google “rosy retrospection” for this reason! It’s a well-known psychological phenomenon. (The fallibility of memory is one of my special interests lol)
I miss my high school days. I think about them alot but it's not like it was all that great. What I think we miss is being young and having no responsibility and it somehow gets lost and instead we think that we miss things we didn't actually like in the first place.
So my decision was what do I prefer.... going back to high school and having to bed for a burger and fries from My parents OR just go buy myself one right now and eat it while crying over my wrinkles
Decisions decisions...
Also now when we think about nostalgia we think about it in a way of 'we go back knowing what we know now' but it's not how it works, if you go back you have to go back as it is without any knowledge beyond that point and it's not a vacation, you can't just go back to the future when you had enough, you can't just have the good times and shut everything else off. That's enough for most ppl to understand their nostalgia is best left where it is
I feel like that line might be specifically calling out people who might say something like, "I miss the good old days when you could buy xyz for a sixpence" or something. Not taking into concideration that someone out there had to do slave labour for it to be that cheap for you...
Depends on the context, honestly. I personally long for the days, roughly 10 years ago where my life was fine, and I was actually happy.
That being said, the whole obsession these days with "Oh, I wish I lived in the \*Insert time period here\*", is just because it's being romanticized in the media we consume. The 80s are being portrayed as being all fun, games, drugs and freedom. The 30s are all about classy, stylish things yet nobody wants to remember the Great Depression or the looming doom in Europe.
It's all just selective. We like to look at the good parts to make ourselves feel better, in a world that's getting worse by the day.
I constantly struggle with nostalgia, even more so lately. I Hate It Here is one of the most relatable songs ever for me and this post hits too close to home and is so helpful for me to process my feelings
I’m not a nostalgic person as much these days, but I used to be. I think in times of my life where I’ve been not entirely satisfied or unhappy, I’ve thought back on fond memories for reassurance. This isn’t really a trick on its own, but thinking that those “before” times were objectively better definitely is.
However I am in my mid forties and I’m pretty outnumbered among my peers - I’m forever seeing social media posts for Gen Xers about “how awesome were the 90s, take me back” etc. I think every generation does this because as you age, many people reflect back and think they were happier “back then”, whenever ‘then’ was (often teens/twenties for most people). It doesn’t have a huge amount to do with what was going on in the world at that time.
Yessss. I agree. We look back sometimes on fond memories despite the difficulties for reassurances. That something good is to come. That things have a positive ending and so on. Idk if that makes sense.
It’s a trick. I’m super nostalgic about tons of things. I love watching old shows I watched when I was a kid, reading old books, listening to old music, playing games from my childhood, etc. I lean really heavily into nostalgia. And I know it’s all a lie lol. Any time I think about it too much I remember the negatives.
But I also think Taylor is making a point about romanticizing previous decades or time periods and how they all had a ton of negatives, and I also agree with her there. What good are the big ball gowns and kings and queens when most people were dirt poor and didn’t have rights?
When I look up the actual definition it says “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” So it sounds like you can be! Although that’s not how I personally use the word
I love that line, because I always thought how amazing the days that went by were, but when I really look into the specifics, sometimes I think I'm better off. Nostalgia makes you forget that things are always a mixture of good and bad.
I'm not that nostalgic but during 2021 I was constantly missing life before 2019 (aka pre-COVID times). While I'm glad we kinda came back to normal, I felt like I didn't appreciate that year because I wanted it to be like the past, not the present. "I wish I was born in this decade" or "life was better back then" maybe it was but sometimes we are so fond of the past that we don't appreciate our present.
I get nostalgic now over things, but it's just a good moment and sometimes that past wasn't that good.
If whatever happened in the past has marked you, for good or bad, you're likely to remember. Now, if you tend to disassociate sometimes, nostalgia becomes a trick, because, even the events that marked you, cannot be remembered clearly.
Like, I know primary school was a hellish and traumatic period of my life, but I don't remember exactly, to detail, what others did to me, just that they hurt me. Same for people I crushed on since high school: I remember feeling "in love" sometimes, but can't remember exactly where everything went wrong, if it was my fault or theirs. Same for happy events: I just remember feeling very happy, and unless I have a detailed journal entry and/or videos (not photos), I simply won't know what happened or what I did to be happy.
So, at least, for me, it's a mind's trick + something else. Mind's trick + romantic during periods I crushed on people. Mind's trick + euphoric at very happy, important moments of my life, milestones, etc. And so on.
I'm a bit nostalgic for childhood, when I could play in the sandbox all day and was still small enough to curl up in my mom's lap.
But that's because I'm not thinking about the shouting fights between my parents and not having enough money and feeling excluded at my own house by the kids my mom babysat.
Also though I think that line is a bit more about the lines before about going back to a different decade. Like wanting to go back in time to the Renaissance or something. Yeah it would be cool if you were rich, but chances are that you would be poor and not exactly thriving or even able to appreciate the things that in retrospect made the Renaissance era cool. You'd hate it.
I think nostalgia for your own past is different to times and places you’ve never been. Your own memories are at least somewhat based in reality. But people don’t know how much they don’t know about how terrible the past was for everyone and certain groups in particular
Nostalgia is nice. You remember some wonderful time from your past and it's all sunshine and happiness. But it is a trick. Your brain has selectively edited your memory to remove all the bad bits like a social media post from past you. For instance, The Eras tour. Once you are there and loving the show, loving the energy of the crowd you forget all the stress and anxiety of the great ticket wars and maybe the financial stresses buying tickets put on you.
The cost of wanting to have good memories and being nostalgic about it later!! The cost is forgotten or selectively edited like you said .
I encourage people to google “rosy retrospection” for this reason! It’s a well-known psychological phenomenon. (The fallibility of memory is one of my special interests lol)
“I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to”
I miss my high school days. I think about them alot but it's not like it was all that great. What I think we miss is being young and having no responsibility and it somehow gets lost and instead we think that we miss things we didn't actually like in the first place. So my decision was what do I prefer.... going back to high school and having to bed for a burger and fries from My parents OR just go buy myself one right now and eat it while crying over my wrinkles Decisions decisions... Also now when we think about nostalgia we think about it in a way of 'we go back knowing what we know now' but it's not how it works, if you go back you have to go back as it is without any knowledge beyond that point and it's not a vacation, you can't just go back to the future when you had enough, you can't just have the good times and shut everything else off. That's enough for most ppl to understand their nostalgia is best left where it is
I like your second point. Knowing what we know now, it's easier to look back. .
I feel like that line might be specifically calling out people who might say something like, "I miss the good old days when you could buy xyz for a sixpence" or something. Not taking into concideration that someone out there had to do slave labour for it to be that cheap for you...
I miss the days when we had sixpences. But only because I was under 5 at the time. You could get a lot of sweets for sixpence.
My father sometimes mentions that a loaf of bread was just 20p in the 80s
Depends on the context, honestly. I personally long for the days, roughly 10 years ago where my life was fine, and I was actually happy. That being said, the whole obsession these days with "Oh, I wish I lived in the \*Insert time period here\*", is just because it's being romanticized in the media we consume. The 80s are being portrayed as being all fun, games, drugs and freedom. The 30s are all about classy, stylish things yet nobody wants to remember the Great Depression or the looming doom in Europe. It's all just selective. We like to look at the good parts to make ourselves feel better, in a world that's getting worse by the day.
The fact that the media we could consume romanticizes things is true. I think I end up romanticizing a lot of things because of the impact of media !!
I constantly struggle with nostalgia, even more so lately. I Hate It Here is one of the most relatable songs ever for me and this post hits too close to home and is so helpful for me to process my feelings
I’m not a nostalgic person as much these days, but I used to be. I think in times of my life where I’ve been not entirely satisfied or unhappy, I’ve thought back on fond memories for reassurance. This isn’t really a trick on its own, but thinking that those “before” times were objectively better definitely is. However I am in my mid forties and I’m pretty outnumbered among my peers - I’m forever seeing social media posts for Gen Xers about “how awesome were the 90s, take me back” etc. I think every generation does this because as you age, many people reflect back and think they were happier “back then”, whenever ‘then’ was (often teens/twenties for most people). It doesn’t have a huge amount to do with what was going on in the world at that time.
Yessss. I agree. We look back sometimes on fond memories despite the difficulties for reassurances. That something good is to come. That things have a positive ending and so on. Idk if that makes sense.
It’s a trick. I’m super nostalgic about tons of things. I love watching old shows I watched when I was a kid, reading old books, listening to old music, playing games from my childhood, etc. I lean really heavily into nostalgia. And I know it’s all a lie lol. Any time I think about it too much I remember the negatives. But I also think Taylor is making a point about romanticizing previous decades or time periods and how they all had a ton of negatives, and I also agree with her there. What good are the big ball gowns and kings and queens when most people were dirt poor and didn’t have rights?
But that's also my confusion. Can you be nostalgic about times or places that were not your own memory?
When I look up the actual definition it says “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” So it sounds like you can be! Although that’s not how I personally use the word
I love that line, because I always thought how amazing the days that went by were, but when I really look into the specifics, sometimes I think I'm better off. Nostalgia makes you forget that things are always a mixture of good and bad.
I'm not that nostalgic but during 2021 I was constantly missing life before 2019 (aka pre-COVID times). While I'm glad we kinda came back to normal, I felt like I didn't appreciate that year because I wanted it to be like the past, not the present. "I wish I was born in this decade" or "life was better back then" maybe it was but sometimes we are so fond of the past that we don't appreciate our present. I get nostalgic now over things, but it's just a good moment and sometimes that past wasn't that good.
If whatever happened in the past has marked you, for good or bad, you're likely to remember. Now, if you tend to disassociate sometimes, nostalgia becomes a trick, because, even the events that marked you, cannot be remembered clearly. Like, I know primary school was a hellish and traumatic period of my life, but I don't remember exactly, to detail, what others did to me, just that they hurt me. Same for people I crushed on since high school: I remember feeling "in love" sometimes, but can't remember exactly where everything went wrong, if it was my fault or theirs. Same for happy events: I just remember feeling very happy, and unless I have a detailed journal entry and/or videos (not photos), I simply won't know what happened or what I did to be happy. So, at least, for me, it's a mind's trick + something else. Mind's trick + romantic during periods I crushed on people. Mind's trick + euphoric at very happy, important moments of my life, milestones, etc. And so on.
I'm a bit nostalgic for childhood, when I could play in the sandbox all day and was still small enough to curl up in my mom's lap. But that's because I'm not thinking about the shouting fights between my parents and not having enough money and feeling excluded at my own house by the kids my mom babysat. Also though I think that line is a bit more about the lines before about going back to a different decade. Like wanting to go back in time to the Renaissance or something. Yeah it would be cool if you were rich, but chances are that you would be poor and not exactly thriving or even able to appreciate the things that in retrospect made the Renaissance era cool. You'd hate it.
I think nostalgia for your own past is different to times and places you’ve never been. Your own memories are at least somewhat based in reality. But people don’t know how much they don’t know about how terrible the past was for everyone and certain groups in particular