Nostalgia

From the Oxford Dictionary:

nostalgia

Pronunciation: /näˈstaljə, nə-/
noun

a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.


In my mind: Nostalgia, a beautiful, semi-painful, but not harshly so, thing.

I've been extremely nostalgic lately. Not missing the past, but remembering and reliving it. There have been so many wonderful memories, places, and people in my past. A lot of them are still here today. But everything changes with time so they're always different now then they were then. I got to looking at old pictures on Facebook, vacations of the past, parties from yesteryears, and quite honestly some reminders of how much of stranger who I was is compared to who I now am.

It's all those yesterdays that have shaped who I am and my perspective today. Travel has probably been the largest influence on me. I went to the Caribbean last year for Spring Break and I went to Germany for three weeks this summer. Those two trips really opened my eyes to a more worldly perspective, and how in comparison, a lot of my worries are irrelevant. Both trips reaffirmed how passionate I am about learning and appreciating other cultures, hence one of my reasons for being so excited to study anthropology next year.

But aside from the places, it really is the people. Even the ones you never speak to, the ones you just see, that have had the greatest impact on me. It's the mistakes I've made and what I've learned from them, the moments I'll never forget, the things I've learned about well...life, that have made me who I am today. As cliche as that sounds, it's true. Everyone that I've ever had any kind of relationship with has influenced me in some way, whether it be my musical preference or my life philosophies, they were all one of the reasons I am who I am.

Then there's the bitter side of nostalgia: everything single aspect of nostalgia has passed, never to relived or revisited precisely how it once was. It's sad quite honestly. Yet not a reason to dwell, if you look at it the right way. The right way for me right now is: "wow, that was wonderful and really something, so let's see what wonderful somethings tomorrow has in store."

My yesterdays were great and I hope every day can live up to that, maybe even always getting better.
Semper ad meliora : Always toward better things.