Nostalgia

As adults we tend to lose the sense the nostalgia, the light of magic. When we are young, we think “I can’t wait to grow up. I can’t wait to do what I want.” Once there, however, we do not. We act as functional parts of society and if we are not “productive” we have no purpose. I see it all the time in my line of work. Young adults, older adults, and retired adults all feel as though if they are not productive members of society then they have lost their purpose. Of course, there are those that do not, and we know this because we shine a bright light on those who are not “productive”. Though many people literally will not allow themselves to enjoy life. Enjoy the things that they have always enjoyed or try new things. The catch is though, if they are working then they feel they do not have time to do things that they find enjoyable.

It is so hard to find a balance between being a productive member of society and enjoying the spark of life. One thing that I have noticed over the years is that though I feel the drain of work and health, little sparks of nostalgia always seem to find their way in. As an adult I have found small ways to allow myself to enjoy those things, but not to the fullest as I fear most do not.

In my line of work, I encourage others to find what gives them joy, what gives them comfort, in order to find calm in their daily lives. To live to their fullest and not allow the societal standards to govern over their happiness. Redefine productivity to mean caring for ourselves. But had I done the same? It was not until a sweet young girl at the age of 14, my niece actually, gave me an owl stuffed animal with round glasses to me as a graduation gift. It also had a glitter graduation cap and scroll in hand, tacky and absolutely adorable. She knew I had a great love for Harry Potter, so she saw this owl and had her mother send it to me as my gift. Little did she know how much this meant to me. How much Harry Potter was a part of my upbringing. Therefore to get it as a gift at a reward for one of my, at that time, greatest adult achievement meant a lot.

As an adult I like to keep things matching and of certain order, so this owl was not quite matching with my décor. However, I could not put it “away”. At that time, I had not only graduated with my master’s degree, but had many life changing occurrences happen around the same time. I had to figure out the long and hard way that only I could truly create my own happiness. This led to the small step to leave the owl out and for show. This was the start of finding how important things of nostalgia can be for me.

Over the next few years, I continued to collect items of nostalgia and began getting gifted even more from others when they saw how much joy it gave me. I even allowed myself to use the décor and items to be the main theme of one of my guest rooms. Yes, you heard me right. I, a working adult, have a Harry Potter themed guest room. What as been the surprising result is that it not only has given me joy. It has brought those who visit joy. Most importantly, it is becoming a room of peace for me. If I have a rough night in my bed, I sleep in there. If I want quiet to read, I get lost (in the book) in there. If I need a break, I can go explore the things that give me joy. I never would have guessed that giving into my childhood passions, my nostalgia, would create so much joy in my adulthood.

I guess I would say the moral of the story here is to let yourself be just that, yourself. Allow yourself to let go and not worry about what others may think. Turn your productivity for society into productivity for your livelihood. Let your nostalgia and passions be the light in your life. Leave the owl out.