As per definition Nostalgia describes a longing for the past, often idealized and unrealistic.
The term was originally coined by Johannes Hofer, a medical student in 1678 (νόστος = nostos = returning home, άλγος = algos = pain/longing) roots, to refer to "the pain a sick person feels because he wishes to return to his native land, and fears never to see it again".
But as arimanius pointed out, nostalgia means a lot more in its current usage. This word is used in context of thinking about the past. Some good memories, some bad, lots of images swirling around in your head... making u smile, shake ur head in wonder, sometimes making u grimace... all memories, all yours...
I don't know abut people in general, but i could do away with some of these memories... but i guess those are the hardest to get rid of. It's amazing how i can quickly forget the small things in life that gave me pleasure, those little moments in time which are so important that they should be kept framed forever. I really don't remember the first times of so many things... the first day of school, the first day out of home all alone, the first day in a new city, the first day with a set of entirely new people... I guess they happen so quickly that there isn't time to take it all in. But the hard-to-get-rid-of memories... they are always the bad ones. All the mistakes you've ever done, all the embarrasing situations you've been in will come to haunt you the moment you sit alone. They come unbidden, almost in a sneaky way... and before you know it, you are living all those horrors again.
People learn from their mistakes, i don't seem to be of that breed... i keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. adding to my ever increasing stock of bad memories... someday they'll push out all the good ones :-(
The point is, i'm not really fond of this "Nostalgia" thing and i really wish out alcom finds a different name soon... not that i'll come even if they do that...
5 comments:
only the idealized and the unrealistic??..i think thats a too narrow way oflooking at things...or maybe the nostalgia within makes u feel that way?
Also the name of an insanely boring event held at K J Somaiya every year. Besides also being the common name of alumni meets of 437 mediocre institutes in the country.
Agreed..we only tend to remember and agonize about the bad memories..they stand out always overshadowing the good ones..one does not feel the exciting heady rush when thinking of the good ones as we feel the depression f the bad ones..makes me think one shud always look ahead n try accumulating good memories only..but then we never learn do we?
People only tend to think about the bad memories when there r very few of them....when u have done only a few mistakes all ur life...they obviously tend to be highlighted....But people like me have made making mistakes a routine and we tend to remember none of these...guess as the frequency of mistakes increase their comin back to u decreases...
;)
This is typically the kind of post which makes me believe I can never do this, write a blog that is, it's almost like your are facing your inner self and it's for everyone to see. But I fell this is needed for someone to be a good writer because the best content is always hidden deep inside and only those who are able to hit that depth can get the pearl :)
About the content, I ll have to say you are not alone. It's the same here. Except I would probably still want to keep my bad memories.
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