It started around age 35 and just gets stronger as the years go by

[Chemtrailsoverthecountryclub]

Nostalgia and thinking of the past-childhood, teens, twenties…

Mid 40’s now and have always been a bit nostalgic, but it didn’t really kick in hugely until mid thirties. I noticed a lot of people from school reconnecting, thoughts of old loves, teenage years.

Now at 47, it’s stronger than ever. My life is nice, nothing missing, but I think a lot about childhood, my teens, where I used to live, all my family when living at home and it just gives me such a pang of sadness…I know i’ll look back on these times of Dc being young in the same way.

Does anyone else have this? Instagram seems to be full of it. I wonder why we as humans are like this.

It’s such a cliche but life really does fly by so quickly

Life can be very tough at the moment with juggling work, children, ageing parents. I am also responsible for all house/garden maintenance and repairs which I find really anxiety inducing. I'm having a bit of a wobble at the moment after losing a parent and parent in law and with older child about to move on to secondary which is the first time I've felt like I don't want him to grow up so fast. On the other hand I know rationally I was often quite unhappy as a child/teenager and there are things in my life now that I would miss if I was living in a different time/place.

Has anyone else read 'the midnight library' by Tom Haig? Less about nostalgia per se and more about issues around regrets and 'what ifs'. I really liked it. The beginning is a bit dark though, I nearly gave up but am glad I didn't.

Yes, I feel this too sometimes, I tend to have phases of it where it's quite strong.

I work in a part of London now that I have very fond memories of visiting as a kid and teen with my mum. I love wandering the area at lunchtime sometimes and remembering how exciting it was to me back then.

I also repurchased some of my favourite old YA books, which are utterly trashy, but bring m a lot of happiness in remembering reading them as a tween. Sometimes I google 'Sugar Magazine' and similar publications and there are webpages and social media pages dedicated to them with photos of the magazine pages.

Has anyone else read 'the midnight library' by Tom Haig? Less about nostalgia per se and more about issues around regrets and 'what ifs'. I really liked it. The beginning is a bit dark though, I nearly gave up but am glad I didn't.

Yes, I thought that was a great book!

just like todays bad photo is next years good one.

Yes I do the same on the off chance I can look inside where we lived in the 60s. The wonderful Christmases etc. Sometimes I don’t like being the grown-up

Definitely. Think back constantly. Look back with fond memories but also painful memories. I think that I need to control the amount of time I look back as I think it does put a negative spin on looking forward. Another thing I do is only listen to music from way back when. I think this doesn’t help and I need to get more up to date and old music comes with memories and I need to make new happy memories.

Definitely. Even more so now that i'm mid 50s and my life didnt' turn out the way i thought it would. Sometimes it's agonizing and i have to force myself to stop ruminating.

I've been getting a strong pull towards 1970s..I have 70s Spotify lists..I Google clothes I remember wearing, places I visited..I was 4-14..
My teens were late70s to 80s..a mixed bag of emotions on that, weirdly less of a pull. 90s a write off, hated them..PND and other issues.

I don't look back to my childhood at all. I do live within 10 miles of where I grew up, though - I lived the other side of the country for much of my 20s and early 30s and was incredibly homesick, so I do know how you feel.

I have a lovely life now - my parents are still alive and I see them once or twice a week; I have two lovely primary school aged children; working part-time in a job I love; involved in a hobby/interest at a high level nationally; happy marriage - and I can see that these are the "good old days" I'll look back on with nostalgia one day. I love my parents, and I'm enjoying my children being young, and I think in 20 years I'll miss what I have now.