Reflection and Nostalgia

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Nostalgia. The reason for this is that a lot of things that I did during my childhood have been happening, or reappearing. For example, the first movie I ever saw in theaters when I was a child was Ghostbusters. I remember it vividly, even though it happened over 35 years ago. I was off school, and my Mum thought it would be fun to go and see the movie with me. It remains one of my favorite movies to this day., I went to see the newest Ghostbusters movie, and that day in the mid-1980’s came flooding back to me! How much fun it was to go see a movie with my Mum, and how happy I was seeing a movie I was so excited for!

So, this got me thinking, what other things make me feel nostalgic? Well recently, along with what seems most of the world, I have been playing the daily word game ‘Wordle’. Growing up I loved word games. From watching the Anagram game show ‘Countdown’ on TV, to playing the word games Scrabble and Upwords with family members. Since Wordle has reminded me of these board games, I have been playing different board games this month, including Upwords with 2 of my children. Speaking of that, I need to practice my board games more too, because they are beating me most of the time. What matters the most is, is that we are having so much fun when we are playing together, just like when I was a kid.

Another thing that has made me feel nostalgic is food, or should I say treats. I was fortunate enough to get some British candy as a gift recently, and tasting the chocolate was like owning a time machine, with it transporting me right back to my childhood. I can even remember the jingles from the TV commercials for some of them. Which, of course, makes me think about all the fabulous music that reminded me of different events, car rides and dancing around the house. All very happy times, that bring a huge smile to my face.

This caused me to reflect on why I might be feeling all these feelings of nostalgia are taking me back to my childhood. Is it because I had more fun then? Maybe because my life seemed simpler when I was a child? Both could be true, but if you ask my friends, I still have a lot of fun and act like a child sometimes, which is a good thing! One thing that became apparent, was that all these times I was happy, they were GOOD times! I think it’s fun to connect things you are doing now, with things you have done in your past, and it’s fun to reminisce on what made you happy when you were young.

I like to see other folks get that warm and fuzzy feeling of nostalgia too. In my last job, I worked at a Summer Camp, and every year we would hold a reunion weekend for people of all ages to come back to visit Camp, and their old friends. We would have people travel from all over the world to spend the weekend at Camp. Some of those people went to camp back in the 1940’s! It was such a great feeling to see all the folks singing the same songs, hiking the same trails and building the same Camp Fires as they did decades ago.

What are some things that make you feel nostalgic? Are there any things that you enjoy now, that you think you want to experience again when you are older? Has anything ever made you feel nostalgic about something that you didn’t expect? Are there any songs that remind you of when you were younger?

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