“Memories are like a box of sweets. Once it opens, you won’t be able to stop by tasting just one piece.”
Doesn’t this famous dialogue from the Bollywood movie Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani perfectly capture what many of us feel as we go down memory lane?
Well, the thing about nostalgia is that it creeps in when you least expect it. The flavour of a certain pastry, the melody of the song you used to listen to on repeat, the film you were obsessed with in middle school — one look at it and you’re back in your childhood home in your mind. There’s a heartfelt melancholy, a feeling that can be synonymous with homesickness for childhood; a stage where the world didn’t seem so scary. An ache that makes you anxious when the future is at your door and you’re trying your best to ignore its knocks. But why is nostalgia so addictive?
The fascination of living in memory rather than the present, of comparing how things once were with how things are now, was for several centuries thought at best a trait to avoid and, at worst, a root cause of depressive illness. However, in recent times, research has shown the positive effects of the feeling. It connects us to our past and community and gives hope for the future. It is often said that we should take all good things in moderation, and the same rings true for this wistful, protective, sentimental feeling we know all too well, after all living in the past while ignoring the future does not bode well for anyone.
Now, I am no advocate of “toughening up” and focusing on your future, for I have long back acquired the bittersweet taste of nostalgia. But recently I have been actively choosing to live in the present, and even though it is difficult at times, it is rewarding as well. So look at the past through rose-tinted glasses, but remember to take them off too. You might not want the world to see you, but the world is out there, and it is meant to be seen.