Nostalgia: As we get older, how do we combat the sadness and changes in life?
By Emerson Driscoll
Edited by Anna Kate Mereness
As each year goes by, we get further and further away from what we used to be, and used to know and are sent into uncertainty. When you let your mind wander, you may be able to recall what Kindergarten used to feel like, especially when it was recess. Making snow angels with your cousins in December, getting a snack to tune into Disney Channel, or still believing in Santa or the Easter Bunny.
For many people, the seasons changing can spark these memories almost immediately, and in a setting like college where you are growing as a person, away from what you are familiar with can feel like all the magic is ripped away from you. I find myself most affected by this feeling in the days leading up to heading back to college. You try to fit in every moment and make it count because it feels like the second you get back to college, it will be too late and summer is over, fall looms and so does a new school year.
We used to wish to turn 10, to become a teenager at 13, now we wish the clock would go back. You can’t get the time back, but you can instead, accept it, cherish it, and understand that your future is just as exciting.
Being at college especially around holidays can feel lonely and you may feel like there is no time to get that excitement back, but especially now during the fall season, take this as your sign to make it feel special again. Go to Dollar Tree and grab some Halloween decorations, bake your favorite pumpkin treats, light an apple scented candle, and invite your friends over to watch a scary movie or carve pumpkins! You can go all out, or you can just buy a pumpkin and set it on your front porch or in your window. Lean into what used to be so exciting for you during this season years ago.
This doesn’t just have to go for the seasons. I know that when I hear a train sometimes or birds chirping in the morning or smell fresh cut grass, I think about playing outside in my backyard with my neighbors and never wanting to go to bed. My challenge to you is to encapsulate that same feeling. Find the people that make you feel like that. Plan something with them, even if it’s just a dinner or a walk around campus. Do what you love. Sit outside without your phone. Journal about what you did each day and romanticize it. You are never too old to have fun and still feel that joy you did as a kid.
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