Do You Remember?

The tiny sweaters, hand crochet blankets? Going through a trunk brought strong memories of my children, I could recall their wonderful smell. The sound of their crying as babies… I found myself being nostalgic for a time less fraught with anxiety and concern for the future. Nostalgia originated with the Greek idea of homecoming and pain. A longing, a wanting. Of course, homecoming does not need to literally mean home, but rather a place associated with connection. 

Smell and touch bring us into memories. I have often asked students, “What does it smell like, how does it feel?” This seems to help them recall painful experiences. Smell and touch hit our amygdala quicker than the other senses, thus, making a strong first impression. All memory deals with connections, incidents, relationships to others, environment, animals, family, and even places.  

The need for connection and understanding relationships is an important part of becoming more aware of our beingness at any one place and time. Our existence is at this moment, all that is and has been, is present. In a sense there is no past, only our ability to recall a series of events at this moment. The same applies to the future. All that will be, exists at this moment. Time and space don’t exist in consciousness. Seeing time and space as flow is not a realty. What we know is that we see time flowing through space to explain an event. What appears is only there because you perceive it as so. To explore a momentary place and time is an important aspect of understanding our existence.  When being nostalgic we are recalling time and space as a pattern of flow. Science tells us we pull together pieces of memory from different parts of our unconsciousness and flow it together to create a memory. What we do now know is that this means that a memory can be easily changed if we add a piece from another event. Having said this, it is important to indulge in nostalgia at different times. Recalling memories has an important place in our lives. They help us connect to others, enhance our sense of self and provide clues to our existential purpose of existence. 

In the ontological study, as presented by The Prosperos, we recognize our search for consciousness is directly linked to investigating our relationships to all aspects of our life. Our very existence is dependent on our view of how we view the relationship we have to reality, monism, Truth, wholeness, and perfection.   

Nostalgia can be used, as with Releasing the Hidden Splendor, to help reframe past negative events and relationships.  By reframing past events, strategies, planning, implementation, and expected outcomes, the coping ability is increased as are support and participation by others. We increase our ability to form healthy productive relationships where we feel safe and respected. Studies have shown that by recalling our past experiences and reframing the troublesome ones, we improve our self-reflection, have a greater ability to find purpose of being, and build a better defense against existential threat to our sense of being and purpose. 

Side Stepping

Sometimes nostalgia can trigger defensive contrivances which allow us to avoid the painful aspect of such memories. The wish to return to the past, the good ‘ole days’ can cause us to miss the lessons of the past, where a more reflective nostalgia can make us more critically attentive to problems and lessons that need to be examined. 

If life seems disruptive, confusing, or threatening, we want to return to the past. Looking at Trump rhetoric the phrase of “Make America Great Again,” hit the mark for many who were confused by the increasing chaos being presented by the watershed of history that is now happening. Older, agreed upon aspects of morality and life are clashing with a much-needed change in many aspects of the community life emerging. In many cases, religious underpinnings of morality and how to view the world was being cast into the ravine of chaos. 

When we reflect on our past, we need to see what really happened and our emotional reaction to it. Longing and wanting for the connections are not a bad idea, The need to grow and expand in our own existence is accomplished by reflective consciousness and the willingness to form new connections and ideas to bridge the ravines of chaos present throughout our globe.

Copyright © 2021 Suzanne Deakins