Nostalgia

Time is like a downward stream of water flowing at its own pace. We are travelling through this stream with our mind acting as a boat. Time never stops just like the flow of water. It doesn’t care at what section of itself we are at. It will flow it’s own course and at its own rate, relentlessly and tirelessly. 

Our human mind however has its own tricks up its sleeve. Just like a boat it can manoeuvre itself through time with a special power called nostalgia. It is the key thing that in many cases gives us the strength to feel comfort at trying times. However this power can also turn against us when nostalgia becomes toxic. 

The sweet memories of the past are just glimpses of time that we chose to save. A perfect idea of a perfect time that doesn’t exists anymore. A time where everything was just at the right amount and at the right place. A time when innocence guided our thoughts and things were much simpler. A time that is so surreal that it seems an impossibility. A time that doesn’t exist anymore. This is when the sweet nectar of nostalgia becomes toxic. As it deludes our vision of the coming future and present, it anchors us to the past. A selective past that hides several inconsistencies that led us to where we are. A past that was never really fully true. A past that we cherry picked to remember. An incomplete past.

This toxic nostalgia tries to frame us into believing that the times we are living is simply not as soul pleasing as it used to be. That we are not meant to be like this and what is occurring is an abhorrent use of our time. It tries to lure us to believe that what is ideal was in the past and cannot be attained in future. It tempts us to stop exerting efforts for our present and future as it simply won’t be the same. As it clenches our feet in its slowly curing cemented claws, we feel less and less inclined to move forward. In doing so we forget the one basic principle, time never stops and it doesn’t care. 

We need to realise if we are stuck in the past a d many times it’s quite evident to realise that. If we are choosing to cling to the past then we need to tell ourself the truth. Nostalgia shouldn’t be a tool to anchor ourself in time. We need to move forward and we can use nostalgia to direct ourself in the right direction. Let it be our compass on our passage through time.