It’s 7 p.m. on a humid summer evening. It’s quiet in the car except for the song “Even the Nights Are Better” by Air Supply, playing in the background. My dad maneuvers our small white vehicle, focusing on the passing cars as he drives us home from a long day. My siblings are in the back while I sit in the front passenger seat. I observe cars pass by while the clouds shift in the pink sky, lost in my deep thoughts.

It is an infinitesimal moment, yet so nostalgic to me. As a child, I always cherished the evening drive home with my parents after a long day at my grandparent’s house. Whether it was a lullaby song or a musical number in the background, I remember the peacefulness and tranquility of sitting in the car with my family associated with those songs.

Some days, I see certain items, and nostalgia hits hard. From seemingly mundane objects, such as strawberry-scented stickers and Crayola dot markers from elementary school, to more personal items, such as my cow stuffed animal that my parents won for me at a carnival, each item holds meaning to me. A snapshot of a particular moment occurs whenever I see something that reminds me of the past. I am transported to a time of innocence, imagination, and curiosity as a child.

However, what is nostalgia?

Nostalgia, once considered a medical disease by multiple scientists, was very hard to classify. Coined by Johannes Hofer, a physician in the early eighteenth century, it was considered a mental disease and was not recognized as a beneficial feeling until the twentieth century. Nostalgia has been linked to similar feelings of joy, where it affects the brain and its functions.

Although not much information is known about nostalgia, one thing is clear: Nostalgia is associated with childhood and happy moments.

Nostalgia is still prevalent in our society today. For example, multiple film franchises produce sequels or remakes of certain movies to attract audiences to rediscover their reminiscence of certain childhood films. For example, Walt Disney’s Studio is known for remaking multiple movies into live-action films, my favorites including The Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, and Cinderella. Beautiful animation from the twentieth century is transformed into modern takes on childhood classics for all ages to enjoy.

In addition, music has been poignant in our lives, allowing us to recall eras of music that we lived through in our childhood. From the ’70s to the ’80s to rap and pop music, songs are associated with generations of our lives. Air Supply and Duran Duran are rock bands unfamiliar to me as a high school student in 2023, but to my parents, it brings them back to their high school days and their senior prom in the 1990s. Thus, they even dragged me to the Duran Duran and Air Supply concert, which were very good… I am sure that in the future, my experience at these concerts will also become my nostalgic memories of the memorable time I spent with my parents.

I genuinely believe that nostalgia is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world. Nostalgia evokes memories (melancholy or jubilant) that bring us back to monumental events in our lives that leave an indelible imprint on our life’s journey. Nostalgia is known to be therapeutic and helps those who are anxious or lonely to find connections and build relationships with others.

Wistful moments like these have significantly made me ponder my future, understanding that change is inevitable and that I must be grounded in the present. Sitting in your thoughts, musing over unforgettable childhood moments, is a beautiful way to reflect on your life. It is what truly gets me through life.

To end off this blog, I want to add some lyrics to a Duran Duran song (introduced by my mom) that is relevant to this blog:

“But I won’t cry for yesterday
There’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive.”

– Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World“

These night drives and wonderful songs have sparked my nostalgic memories. I hope you find your spark of nostalgia.

Citations:

Kincaid, L. (n.d.). That funny feeling: the science behind nostalgia. The Carroll News. https://carrollnews.org/195934/arts-and-life/that-funny-feeling-the-science-behind-nostalgia/

MacBride, K. (2021). The power of nostalgia: What science tells us about longing for the past. Inverse. https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/the-science-of-nostalgia

Mirage News. (n.d.). Why we Long for the Past: The Science Behind Nostalgia. https://www.miragenews.com/why-we-long-for-the-past-the-science-behind-1013752/

The science of nostalgia. (n.d.). https://reporter.rit.edu/features/science-nostalgia