Does anyone get bittersweet pangs of nostalgia?

[Lencoboy]

On the final day of yet another eventful year of mixed fortunes, I've been harking back to several occasions throughout the year where I've had sudden reminders of certain times in my past that generally weren't really that good overall, but at the same time I kind of regret leaving behind and not really making the most of them of them at the time that I probably could have done.

For example, one of my favourite books from 1993 titled 'The Camcorder User's Video Handbook' (already covered in another thread of mine titled 'Books And Nostalgia') has several photographic images that were most likely shot during 1992-93, and are a great time capsule that visually transport me back to what are now retrospectively perceived as simpler and more carefree times, even though certain aspects of my life could be absolute hell on earth back then, plus life in 90s Britain (and decades prior) as a whole certainly wasn't as ticketty-boo as a lot often like to remember.

Even certain aspects of my final academic year at school, which was also in 1992-93, time has somehow ironically been kinder to, even though I mostly hated it at the time, and would hate the thought of being there now too.

But just seeing photographic images of everyday stuff in that aforementioned book that I considered to be mostly mundane at the time, such as the main pedestrianised thoroughfare of a town centre complete with 'proper' shops that actually meant something to the majority of the population; many of whose brands nowadays are either only just a memory or at least a pale shadow of their former selves.

It just seems like nearly everything these days is in limbo and popular culture in general seems rather stale and virtually devoid of originality, plus many of us seem to be stuck in some kind of cynicism trap.

Hardly surprising many people (including myself) seem to lack motivation and enthusiasm.

[Lencoboy]

On the final day of yet another eventful year of mixed fortunes, I've been harking back to several occasions throughout the year where I've had sudden reminders of certain times in my past that generally weren't really that good overall, but at the same time I kind of regret leaving behind and not really making the most of them of them at the time that I probably could have done.

For example, one of my favourite books from 1993 titled 'The Camcorder User's Video Handbook' (already covered in another thread of mine titled 'Books And Nostalgia') has several photographic images that were most likely shot during 1992-93, and are a great time capsule that visually transport me back to what are now retrospectively perceived as simpler and more carefree times, even though certain aspects of my life could be absolute hell on earth back then, plus life in 90s Britain (and decades prior) as a whole certainly wasn't as ticketty-boo as a lot often like to remember.

Even certain aspects of my final academic year at school, which was also in 1992-93, time has somehow ironically been kinder to, even though I mostly hated it at the time, and would hate the thought of being there now too.

But just seeing photographic images of everyday stuff in that aforementioned book that I considered to be mostly mundane at the time, such as the main pedestrianised thoroughfare of a town centre complete with 'proper' shops that actually meant something to the majority of the population; many of whose brands nowadays are either only just a memory or at least a pale shadow of their former selves.

It just seems like nearly everything these days is in limbo and popular culture in general seems rather stale and virtually devoid of originality, plus many of us seem to be stuck in some kind of cynicism trap.

Hardly surprising many people (including myself) seem to lack motivation and enthusiasm.

I reckon my current emotions are (subconsciously) due to my mom going to live in a care home back in the summer (which was and still is certainly for the best), coupled with the fact that tonight is New Year's Eve, which was quite a big deal for me when I was younger, especially between the late 90s and the mid 2000s when me and my dad were usually out with my brother when he did gigs with his old covers band.

I haven't been out on New Year's Eve for about 15 years now since my brother's band called it quits. Not that I necessarily want to be out in a loud, crowded pub or WMC nowadays like back then (which were still full of ciggy smoke at the time too), but it was a time that I just felt more carefree and less concerned about most potential risks/hazards/untoward happenings, even though things weren't always all that good, even actually at the time.

I think I'm just getting older now (45 years old) and wearing the rose tinted specs.

[pulisa]

I really dislike NYE because it can make you feel really low if you're struggling anyway but in truth it's just another day and has no special significance.

It must be hard for you to deal with your mum's illness and her move to a care home. Really hard. Very natural for you to think back to happier times too when your worries were less intrusive.

Personally I wish i'd appreciated the simpler times before life got very challenging but I just took them for granted.

[Lencoboy]

I really dislike NYE because it can make you feel really low if you're struggling anyway but in truth it's just another day and has no special significance.

It must be hard for you to deal with your mum's illness and her move to a care home. Really hard. Very natural for you to think back to happier times too when your worries were less intrusive.

Personally I wish i'd appreciated the simpler times before life got very challenging but I just took them for granted.

Thanks very much for your reply Pulisa.

You're right that 1st January is just another day and just another digit (or occasionally two) higher for the new calendar year, plus it's also pretty much the 'same old same old' that I've already seen and experienced umpteen times before during my lifetime and no longer seems to enthuse and excite me in quite the same ways that it once did.

You're also correct in the sense that especially during tougher times, a lot of us have a tendency to seek solace in the past, ironically if even certain periods of our lives we reminisce about were already rather painful for us at the time in their own right, or those particular things/periods weren't actually even that great in the first place, hence 'bittersweet'.

But like I suggested upthread, a lot of it is probably looking back on possible lost/wasted opportunities and the typical 'If I knew then what I know now' kind of thingy, as well as the 'why didn't I make the most of it' and appreciate a lot of those things I'm now semi-nostalgic for more at the time.

But of course, that was then and this is now, nor can we change the past, for better or worse.

Anyways, have a happy New Year Pulisa and everyone else on here, and wishing you all the best of luck for 2023.

Also a big thank you for helping me (in 'text' form) through yet another eventful rollercoaster of a year.

Auld Lang Syne!

[fishman65]

I often get those bittersweet pangs Lenco, I think most people do at some point. I hated school and yet even that period seems somehow an innocent chapter now. There was a spell between about 17 and 20 that was my happiest. The rest is pure trash, a miserable existence.

As Pulisa says, the whole new year thing is an illusion. Its just a date on the calendar that people use as an excuse to get drunk. Underneath the hype its another winter's day, nothing more.

[Lencoboy]

As Pulisa says, the whole new year thing is an illusion. Its just a date on the calendar that people use as an excuse to get drunk. Underneath the hype its another winter's day, nothing more.

I think even moreso for me since the Millennium thingy, which was basically (and once again, for better or worse) a 'once-in-a-lifetime' event for us all, which many believe was hyped up to death in its own right during the run-up to it, where in reality, it was yet 'just another day', with 1st January 2000 being no radically different to 31st December 1999 overnight in the grand scheme of things, but merely the 'once-in-our-lifetime' experiencing that sacred change of 4 digits first-hand.

The first half of the 2000s for me was basically just an extension of the late 90s (particularly 1998 onwards) in terms of fashions and general popular cultural trends.

Once again, have a good 'un in 2023.

[pulisa]

It'll soon be time for the most "miserable" day of the year, won't it? Isn't it a Monday at the end of Jan? Doesn't take long for the fake festivity to dissipate!

[Lencoboy]

It'll soon be time for the most "miserable" day of the year, won't it? Isn't it a Monday at the end of Jan? Doesn't take long for the fake festivity to dissipate!

Yes, back to the more usual mundane and humdrum once again.

Like I said upthread, the 90s weren't all hunky-dory for everyone all of the time. In fact, I vividly remember witnessing quite a few people first-hand finding certain events and issues of that particular decade blatantly unbearable and distressing in their own right at the time, myself included of course. Ditto for the 80s.

[fishman65]

I think even moreso for me since the Millennium thingy, which was basically (and once again, for better or worse) a 'once-in-a-lifetime' event for us all, which many believe was hyped up to death in its own right during the run-up to it, where in reality, it was yet 'just another day', with 1st January 2000 being no radically different to 31st December 1999 overnight in the grand scheme of things, but merely the 'once-in-our-lifetime' experiencing that sacred change of 4 digits first-hand.

Very true Lenco. The Millennium was hyped as a grand moment in history. It was nothing of the sort, a grand moment in time maybe, but not history.

I hope you have a good 2023 too Lenco.

[pulisa]

I hope 2023 is a happier, more stable year for you, Lenco. The last few years must have been very unsettling and worrying for you.