Nostalgia

I’m a nostalgic person. And ever since I was officially invited, I’ve had many dreams of people from my past. We’ve all made a bunch of mistakes and have learned from them. And I consider myself a relatively emotionally healthy person. So what accounts for the nostalgia? I’ve never thought much about it, but the dreams prompted the questioning of my chronic nostalgia.

There are pros and cons to being nostalgic.

Pros: Reflecting on the past can be healthy. It’s a review of my life. If I’m unhappy about an aspect of my life, I’m given the opportunity to reflect and possibly fix the problem by seeking closure. 

Cons: The con to being nostalgic is the probability of never looking forward. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. But perhaps looking back at all those mistakes won’t always offer an opportunity to learn because I may continually make those same mistakes.

So I’ve categorized my nostalgia in two forms: 

1. Reflecting for closure

2. Dwelling for self-pity

I don’t mean to put all my eggs in one basket, but I hope my Peace Corps experience can help reduce my frequency for self-pity by teaching me how to increase my capacity for resilience and for frankly, getting over myself.