Although Sometimes Scary, Nostalgia Makes Optimistic To Live Your Life

Nostalgic illustration (Unsplash / Aaker)

JAKARTA - Remembering the past is sometimes scary, but repeating memories of things that have passed or called nostalgia is difficult to avoid.

How could I not, the past is an event that is certain and has happened. It can't be changed unless you remember it and look for the best possible present and future.

Nostalgia, can be experienced at certain moments. Often it comes from sense engagement. For example, smell a certain scent that reminds something or someone in the past.

Even with the taste, touch or even a certain genre of music can remind us of an era that is outdated but worth remembering.

Feelings of sentimentality about past events combine sadness, loss, and joy.

Launching from Psychology Today, Neel Burton, MD, a psychiatrist and author of Heaven and Hell: The Psychology of the Emotions who teaches at Oxford, writes that nowadays nostalgia is no longer seen as a mental disorder.

Nostalgia is a natural emotion, general and even positive. Nostalgia, according to Burton, triggers an unexpected adaptive function.

When faced with boring situations, nostalgia can provide us with much needed context, perspective and direction. Of course, by remembering we are convinced that life is not as shallow as it seems.

According to a study on nostalgia, nostalgic moments often occur on cold days, in cold rooms and make a person feel warmer. Burton continued, nostalgia can be defined as enthusiasm and positive hopes for the things we have hoped for.

Nostalgia also moves us to a compensation. For example, in a scientific article published in Walnut - An Unlimited Agency, nostalgia is associated with building a product brand.

This means that compensation must be fully paid when nostalgia is related to a culture of consumerism such as paying for a premium subscription to a music player platform and other compensation.

Another thing about playing back past memories is a form of self-deception that always involves distortion and idealization of the past. At the very least, the terrible, disappointing and boring parts can be erased from memory. What remains, explains Burton further, is the ultimate experience.

David Newman, a psychologist from the University of Southern California extends the trigger of nostalgia. Sometimes, smells and senses can be random.

In other conditions, for example, when sitting on the sofa alone, you think about your family or the closest people. This means that the presence of sentimental nostalgia can also be triggered by stress, loneliness, and about anyone.

Various studies have found that when feeling sad, depressed and lonely can lead a person to engage in nostalgic or daydreaming moments. Plus, it can improve mood.