If unpleasant or obsessional, past memories can hurt — but nostalgia is good for you. The benefits of this internal psychological state are touted in various academic studies exploring the art and practice of what could be deemed as “pleasant reminiscing.“
According to experts, personal memories from long ago of family and friends can link us together in shared comforts of tradition, and also lend a gratifying sense of continuity in our lives.
Nostalgia can take on many different forms. Watching an old black-and-white movie can trigger a cultural nostalgia for a lost period in time. Often that longing can predate one’s own date of birth: fondness for a time only your parents may have known and talked about.
The mental journey back through time adds a fourth dimension to the present. If mindfulness is the focal point of the Eternal Now, nostalgia forms a special continuum to the timeless past, expanding our concept of the self. The future may be vague, inchoate and unpredictable; but the past represents a finished whole that cannot be harmed or tampered with.
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