Is nostalgia dangerous?

For the last ten years it seems as though the things that bring peace of mind are things from the past. This has led to the conclusion that feeling happiness as an adult is different from when one is young. This is very startling conclusion but it demands a bit more analysis before making a sweeping general comment as I am often guilty of. Let's break the conclusion down.

I will begin with one of the many physical things that I associate with happiness. Living in San Diego I look at many palm trees. I like them, and upon cursory thought I can conclude that I first saw them in Savannah, Georgia as a boy, and they were fascinating because they were unlike any other plant I had ever seen. Now that I am in San Diego and there are thousands of them, I look at them and get a feeling of comfort and satisfaction. However it is not entirely because of my memories of Savannah and later Florida. The reason for this is because some palm trees I'm not too fond of. Specifically, the Queen Palm, or Syagrus Romanzoffiana, which is the most common palm here. To me it looks like the "weed" of the palm family, but that's me. For father's day last year Jeanette and Nicholas got me two encyclopedias on palms, and I enjoy reading about them. Therefore, my interest of the past has grown and matured, becoming a satisfying interest of adulthood.

I suppose the startling aspects are that I don't remember places with the same level of connection that I did growing up. Any number of places would generate various strong undefineable emotions, whereas now, I've seen just about every type of environment once, and my mind has grown numb, so generating excitement about simple things is difficult.

Having said all this, perhaps the greatest new feelings are generated from my son. Watching the things he does brings it all back in a completely new way. I have stepped out of myself as a child and am observing as an adult. It is one of the true joys of parenthood.

To conclude, I do focus too much on nostalgia, but the solution is to hold a celebration once in awhile to honor those things, but not dwell on them on a daily basis.

Comments

[suneel]

i like the way u think, introspection. i too realized that as i am getting older, my brain has become kind of numb. but on the bright side music always makes me feel the same.