If you are on Snapchat, I’m sure you take a look back at the memories that pop up each day and remember what you were doing on this day years ago. If you’re anything like me, you might begin to feel nostalgic of the person you were, the friends you had or the events in your life that were happening at the time.
I’ve always found it crazy how much life can change in just a year or two. What truly made me think was the “two years ago today” Snapchat memories I have been getting as of recently.
It has been two years since the initial lockdown and the world as we had known it changed forever. Oftentimes, ideas that I ponder surrounding the initial quarantine are romanticized in my mind. I’m sure the reason I romanticize and miss quarantine so much is because I don’t recall the bad parts, which is typical when remembering the past. When looking in retrospect, none of the bad things come to mind; instead, I recall the whipped coffee and Netflix shows and countless crafts and home improvement projects. As I continue to watch my memories from previous years, I miss the past and wish I could go back.
While I do in fact enjoy looking back on the past and getting “one year ago” Snapchat memories, they often leave me feeling nostalgic—or even sad—because I miss the way my life was at that time in the past. I miss the friends that I had at that time, or the way I looked, or even the activities I was doing. For example, one year ago today, I was with my best friends enjoying the beautiful spring weather and going on some crazy adventure. I would do anything to get this moment back because I was truly happy and comfortable.
However, when deeply recalling my feelings and mental state form this time last year I realize that I was infact not as happy as I seemed to have been in my memories. I was struggling with the death of my grandpa, a rejection from my dream school, along with a serious family emergency and heartbreak (or so I thought). This is what is referred to as rosy retrospection or viewing things through rose-tinted glasses. A phenomenon in which the past is evoked in a more favorable way.
These feelings of missing the past caused me to think that every time I look back on past memories, whether that be quarantine or some other event that had been recalled, I see things through rose-tinted glasses. I recall the events from my past more fondly than how I actually felt at the time. By doing this, I find myself wishing I could go back and re-experience times that weren’t, actually, all that great.
It is not uncommon to view the past in a positive light or recall events more fondly than they actually were, but sometimes it’s bigger than just missing a person or an event from the past. Sometimes it’s the fact that you miss your past self.
Sometimes it’s hard to realize, but feeling overly nostalgic or finding yourself missing old memories can mean that you are unhappy with your current situation—and you are looking to times at which you were happy or content. Connecting with old friends or doing activities that you once enjoyed cannot fill the void of the old feelings that used to come with them. What these feelings of nostalgia ultimately amount to is the fact that you are unhappy with your current situation. No single person or activity can bring you old feelings of happiness if you are not happy. You are in control of your present feelings and no amount of reminiscing on the past will create a better future.
There are still opportunities to make new memories and to feel happiness. You have not experienced all the wonderful moments that life has to offer. There are still so many new memories to make. There will be new places and people that you find along the way that make your heart warm. There is still so much excitement that you have not experienced yet. Stop mourning your current situation and create something that is worthy of your memory until you stop missing the old ones. It would be a shame for your future self to regret this time spent living in the past. It is much easier said than done, because those old memories are comfortable. You feel secure and happy in these past memories, but that is not where you are heading. Two years ago was two years ago. It is not today nor is it your future.