I can really get into historical and personal nostalgia approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is when I have good sentiments about times of the past, when I might not have even been alive yet. I have a special friend who loves three story Victorian houses as much as I do and we both enjoy drinking great coffee from a white, porcelain, Victorian coffee cup. We laugh about how some people might think it’s weird, but for us it’s special and It is fun to savor the moment of coffee together and talk about why it’s so delicious when we drink it from a white porcelain cup.
This is how good nostalgia can take us through a trial, by turning our thoughts to a positive, happy memory. It doesn’t matter if I actually reenact the memory or just see it in my imagination, it’s a blessed moment. These blessed moments can often etch in my mind in such a way that just recalling them in times of trial soothes my soul.
If nostalgia includes a mental journey back through time, it adds a fourth dimension to the present. If meditation is the crucial point of the Eternal Now, nostalgia forms a special continuum to the timeless past, expanding our concept of self. Our futures can often be vague, and very unpredictable; but the past represents a finished whole that cannot be destroyed, harmed or tampered with. So, my advice is: why not give nostalgia a try?
