Looking At The Past

The dictionary defines nostalgia as "A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time." The question one must ask oneself is whether or not nostalgia is a good or bad thing. Personally I feel it is both.

When thinking about this word I picture a bunch of grown men sitting around a table having a couple beers and talking about their glory days in either highschool or college.  Chatting it up and very possibly exaggerating the story line of how they won that game, or how much fun they had that one labor day floating down the river, every time they tell it. When nostalgia is in this context I see no problem with it. Sure it might be a little weird that one would talk about a game back in highschool when they are in their mid 50's, but I see no harm in it.

In Kazuo Ishiguro's book An Artust Of The Floating World the main character and artist Masuji Ono is on the other side of the spectrum when it comes to nostalgia. Once a great artist and loved by everyone, Ono's popularity has more then weakened over the years. After Japan's war the entire mindset of the country is now different and Ono's fame has been lost under the rubble. Many times he brings up the old times and how everything was so lively in the Migi-Hidari. He also brings up the old Tamagawa grounds saying "I find myself becoming nostalgic for the Tamagawa ground as they used to be. In those days, before the hedges and trees, the grounds seemed far more extensive and full of life..."(P. 70)

I feel that one can get caught up in the nostalgia and cause harm to themselves emotionally. To look back on the past every so often and remember the good times is bound to happen by everyone and some point in their life. But to bring oneself to a state of depression due to the fact that the present has changed so much from the wonderful past is a dangerous road.