You’re in your 20s. Officially out of your teenage years, but not fully into your “real adult” era either. You’re somewhere in between: figuring out your future while still grieving the past. And out of nowhere, nostalgia just hits like a truck.
You hear “Good Time” by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen in a random playlist. Someone posts a screenshot of the old Musical.ly logo. You stumble across a meme from your 6th grade Tumblr phase. And suddenly, you’re spiralling—back to slime videos, Rainbow Loom bracelets, and the time when texting “hey :)” to your crush actually meant something.
So why does nostalgia feel so intense and frequent?
- You’re in transition and it feels like a lot
Being 20 feels like standing in a hallway between childhood and adulthood. You’re not in high school anymore, but you’re not a person with a 401k either. For those that live in private accommodation, household tasks and cooking can start to feel like a lot. And with so much uncertainty in the ‘now’, it makes sense that you look back on your early 2010s self like, wow, she really had no idea what was coming—and that was kind of nice.
- The internet raised us and remembers everything
Your childhood lives online. There aren’t dusty photo albums to flip through once a year to relive your high-school prom. Your 2016 selfie with the dog filter? Still out there. Your YouTube “Draw My Life” obsession? Still bookmarked. Even YouTubers like MylifeasEva and Emma Chamberlain are still making content. And social media LOVES a throwback— even if you’re not looking for nostalgia, it’s always just one scroll away.
- You miss how easy things felt
Back then, joy came from simple things: updating your VSCO, planning your outfit for a hallway crush, or getting likes on a blurry mirror selfie. Now you’re juggling college stress, student loans, maybe even a job. And yet you’d give anything to feel that brand of silly, pure excitement again.
- Nostalgia helps you make sense of everything
Sometimes, nostalgia isn’t just about missing the past, but rather, understanding it. When you were twelve, you likely didn’t stop to think about how safe or joyful or light everything felt. You were just living. But now, you get to look back and go, “That really was special.”
Nostalgia gives your memories new meaning. Even the embarrassing stuff, like the cringey selfies, the Club Penguin usernames, the dramatic journaling—they’re all small time capsules of who you were. And now that you’ve got some space from it, you can actually appreciate it.
Maybe that’s the quiet truth about your twenties: you start to notice time in a way you didn’t before. Not in hours or deadlines, but in the small, emotional distances between who you were and who you’re becoming. Nostalgia doesn’t just remind you of the past, it makes you feel it. And in that ache, there’s something grounding. A reminder that every version of you, from the kid in neon leggings to the college student typing this in the library, is still part of the story. Still becoming. Still here.