A lot of us reach a point in our lives where we realise we’re missing a version of ourselves that we didn’t even know was coming to an end. A version of our lives that, at the time, we felt so present in, that we never considered it would one day become a memory. We were too busy living it to realise just how much we would miss it.
One of the saddest things about growing up is realising that the days we once considered ordinary are often the ones we miss the most. At the time, they were just another day. Another walk home from school, another day at home, another summer spent with the same people in the same places. We never thought to hold onto them because we had no reason to believe they wouldn’t always be there.
Now, those ordinary days have become some of our happiest memories. We can find ourselves missing places we’ve since moved away from, people we used to see every day, people who are no longer here to make new memories with us, and versions of ourselves we can no longer return to.
Time can change our perception of moments. The things we once overlooked in everyday life become the things we’d give anything to experience again. Whether it’s a day we’d love to relive, or if it’s just five more minutes with someone we love. It is the accumulation of these moments that makes it so nostalgic, and we find ourselves chasing that feeling again in our present lives.
Instead of spending our time chasing a feeling we cannot recreate, we should remind ourselves that there is still so much life left to experience. We haven’t met all the people who will become important to us, or lived through all the moments we’ll one day look back on with the same nostalgia. One day, we’ll look back on the life we’re living now and realise we were always making new memories throughout.