I feel like so often we wait too long to be nostalgic. As I walked into Starbucks across the street from my university on the last official Tuesday of my undergraduate career, I felt nostalgic. Nostalgic for all the many, many times I’ve walked here to order my favorite drink (matcha latte), or a pumpkin spice in the fall, or even a chestnut praline during exams. I reminisce of going to Starbucks early, before work and school, to take pictures for my first official pdf sale. I reminisce all the hours I came here planning to study, but wrote down Ideas according to Evelyn instead. As I felt all of this, I felt remorse as well; remorse for not being more nostalgic- in the present.
What even is nostalgia? As I’ve read from multiple scholar articles, nostalgia used to be seen as a disorder. A “dysphoric state triggered by a negative mood or loneliness.” After all, nostalgia itself comes from nostos (return) and algos (pain). The studies continued and soon they defined nostalgia as a yearning to return to an earlier stage of life, it was even thought to be linked with grief and loss. But now, scientists actually encourage nostalgia. It seems to put our situations, especially the negative ones, in a positive light. Nostalgia was, although found to include both happiness & sadness, actually proven to evoke happiness in a study done throughout British undergraduates. The overall effect was happiness, due to a prominent underlying theme of redemption. Taken directly from an article, we read: "Many narratives contained descriptions of disappointments and losses, and some touched on such issues as separation and even the death of loved ones. Nevertheless, positive and negative elements were often juxtaposed to create redemption, a narrative pattern that progresses from a negative or undesirable state (e.g., suffering, pain, exclusion) to a positive or desirable state (e.g., acceptance, euphoria, triumph." (McAdams, 2001).
Redemption. Think of the best redemption stories you know. When I think of my favorite movies, books, or even spoken stories, they all include redemption. Of course the first movie that comes to mind (found in all of my writings) is Rocky: the actual redemption story of an underdog. But the list goes on through major movies, most Marvel movies (do I even have to mention the character arc of Loki), Star Wars, and classics as well. The Count of Monte Cristo, even though known for revenge, is a huge redemption story, Unbroken, and the list goes on: I didn’t even mention Paul (formerly Saul), David, or you and me.
Now to continue with the science of nostalgia: psychology. In a similar study of undergraduates (I’ll try not to be too wordy), there was a control group that was given a certain event to think and write about. There was also a “nostalgic” group. This group was encouraged to recall, list words, and write about a personally nostalgic event in their own lives. The nostalgic group reported not only a generation of more positive affectivity, but also of a more positive self-regard. The positive effects of nostalgia continue: it has been proven to combat loneliness by magnifying social support, and even increase one’s meaning of life. Nostalgia boosts our own perception of the meaning of life by showing us that life doesn’t last forever, that bad can happen, but also that we have gotten and can get through it.
More positive effects of nostalgia are boosting creativity, optimism, and provoking inspiration. But let’s get back to me, walking into Starbucks at 3:00 p.m. on a cold Tuesday in December.
Now that you’re a semi-expert on nostalgia, (email me for more info), let’s get back to how I became nostalgic about this. Maybe graduating didn’t necessarily remind me of the mortality of life, or walking into this building for most likely one of the last times, a negative experience, however, it reminded me of all the times I had overcome stress/hardship. I’m reminded of the times where I was heartbroken, but I got up, forced myself to get out, and do something anyway. I’m reminded of the test grades I got back in “my” wooden chair by the window that I thought would make or break my future. I’m reminded of failure, and success, of stress and creativity, of dreading the monotonous and the way that time truly does fly by and like Ferris Bueller said, if we don’t stop to look around, we may miss it.
In conclusion, I challenge you - be nostalgic about the present. Don’t wait until you’re out of time, out of challenge, or out of school, to appreciate your life and the lives around you.
until next time,
Evelyn
Read more:
コメント