A mild case of nostalgia: a condition of sentimental longing or attachment for a period in the past (source: the dictionary of life, according to TSBF).
It was always going to happen when I started to "declutter" my garage and study. These two rooms seemly act like magnets for the "stuff" we hold onto but rarely use or still need. I started pondering the past, the choices and decisions made to date, the journey through life thus far, a few tears here and there, feelings of frustration...the self diagnosis = a case of nostalgia indeed, level of serious unknown.
The process of removing of those once sentimental items from your life as they no longer fill your cup, is an interesting one. Potentially it sparks some intriguing thoughts and reactions. It did for me; definitely a case of nostalgia, moderate level of severity.
I found myself fighting the thoughts, becoming increasingly frustrated with myself for thinking such things, for reacting in such a manner. But all the while knowing I just had to go with whatever was rising to the top, just be with the endless thoughts and reactions, but not attaching to any of it. It was hard to resist the temptation to bottle it all up in the name of being stoic, almost as though I wanted to keep my cup full of such thoughts and feelings which no longer help but hinder. But what good would that have done?
So I just let go. I called a cease fire, enthusiastically waving a white flag at my mind and the internal battle which was well underway. Slowly allowing the process of letting go wash over without attachment to the thoughts and reactions, in turn lessening my case of nostalgia but increasing my level of acceptance and realisation just how truly grateful I am for what was, what had been but more importantly for what is now.
Hasn't society done this exactly this with the unrelenting and ever changing world of technology? It seems we move with the times without too much thought or reaction except if we feel an overwhelming sense of "need" to have the latest and the greatest. We don't attach and mourn the loss of those items of technology which no longer serve us in terms output and expectation. We don't really think or react to the change and the rapid speed at which it occurs. We just accept it's the way of the world, update our technology as necessary and move on. Digital cameras may have resulted in the end of photography and film processing as we knew it but video didn't kill the radio star and even if it had, the case of nostalgia would have been mild at most.
The Svelte Brown Fox
...celebrating the little and simple things which make you smile and remember life is good
The Svelte Brown Fox likes Instagram
