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The Need for Nostalgia
Pandemics, recessions and other bad stuff create an emotional longing for an idealized past.
Nostalgia is a powerful and often necessary emotional cloak— a way for humans to shield themselves from unpleasant contemporary challenges.
During this pandemic, haven’t you found comfort and consolation in favorite foods, music and TV shows? Think about how many of those comforting things have percolated up from your past. Childhood memories are especially powerful nostalgic triggers because, for many of us, our childhood home represented comfort and security. This link to the subconscious mind reminds us of a happy, carefree time when problems could be offloaded to parents.
One of the nicest attributes of nostalgia is that it crosses ages, races and gender. We all have the ability to dwell in the past and feel the warmth of days gone by. This can act as a soothing salve to stress and strife.
In fact, research into nostalgia suggests remembering the past has tangible benefits. Reporting for The New York Times about nostalgia research, John Tierney wrote, “Nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety. It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. Couples feel closer and look happier when they’re sharing nostalgic memories. On cold days, or in cold rooms, people use nostalgia to…
