We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.
– Marthin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
There are days when individuals look back to the past, recall certain events, and experience nostalgia. Aside from explicit reminders of the past e.g. visiting momentous places or listening to songs associated with past events, nostalgia could be stimulated when individuals face struggling time, feel down or distressed in certain situations. Although some people view reminiscing the past as futile, reminiscing certain past moments might provide benefits through nostalgia.
Firstly, note that reminiscences of past events could result in a nostalgic moment, implying a close link between the two terms. Routledge (2021) explains nostalgia as a self-regulatory existential resource that is regularly utilized to manage stress and uncertainty and to bring together the motivation needed to forge ahead with focus and clear purposes. In specific, individuals are absorbed in nostalgic moments typically when they are feeling low to increase their mood and self-confidence. While nostalgia includes reflection on past experiences, on the other hand, it encourages mental states, behaviors, and purposes that could develop aspects of people’s future well-being. This is to say that when individuals reminisce events that make them nostalgic, they are rethinking personal meaningful, and valuable life events shared with significant others.
As a self-regulatory existential resource, nostalgia poses self-regulatory implications. Certain negative mental states such as sadness, loneliness, meaninglessness, and uncertainty might stimulate nostalgia. On the other side, nostalgia could improve positive outcomes worthwhile for individuals, connectedness to social life, and shape the perspective of meaning in life (Routledge et al., 2013). The effect of nostalgia on shaping the perspective of meaning in life is notably salient considering its substantial impacts on personal motivation to achieve certain goals. It is supported by a finding of Sedikides, et al. (2017) that suggests nostalgia motivates the pursuit of significant life goals by enhancing that sense of meaning.
Moreover, it is suggested that nostalgia helps individuals draw a clear line between their past experiences and present lives to obtain a greater sense of meaning. The connecting process of past events and current lives could elevate individuals’ moods and lower stress. Furthermore, Cheung et al. (2013) suggest that nostalgia could encourage optimism regarding the future through improved self-esteem, connectedness to others, and enhanced hope for the future. In addition to making individuals feel inspired, nostalgia also drives them to take novel actions based on their inspiration (Stephan et al., 2015). The channel through which individuals connect past experiences with current lives could appear in several ways. For instance, individuals may refer to their past experiences to remind themselves about the spirit when they were young (Abeyta and Routledge, 2016), the feeling of affection (Cheung et al., 2013), and life purposes, which in turn encourages future-oriented behavior e.g. networking with others (Abeyta et al., 2015), and achieving life goals (Sedikides et al., 2017).
Considering the aforementioned positive effects of nostalgia and reminiscing the past leads to another important question about how do people harness past experiences for the present and future. First, it should be noted that not all past experiences were meaningful, and therefore, individuals need to sort and filter which events brought valuable insights and lessons. Aside from gathering relevant and significant resources, sorting and filtering could prevent people from information overload. Second, if needed, take note of the lessons from meaningful experiences, and make them as an alarm, information, or motivation for future steps. Third, be attentive to certain experiences that may be connected and might produce discretion and prudence. Finally, apply strategic and necessary actions with information, motivation, and discretion. While there might be other methods to harness meaningful past events, at least, those steps could be a practical and simple way to apply.
In conclusion, when individuals are absorbed in nostalgic moments, it does not automatically mean that they are dwelling in the past and being reluctant to move forward. Reminiscing could be a moment of retrospection and contemplation to remind oneself of his life purpose, meaning, and motivation. It could open access to meaningful memories from the past to help an individual to face the future with a clear vision. Briefly, harnessing the past might be done by reflecting and learning from meaningful experiences to formulate and take impactful, necessary actions in the present and future.
References
Abeyta A., Routledge C. (2016). Fountain of youth: the impact of nostalgia on youthfulness and implications for health. Self Identity 15, 356–369
Abeyta A., Routledge C., Juhl J. (2015). Looking back to move forward: nostalgia as a psychological resource for promoting relationship goals and overcoming relationship challenges. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 109, 1029–1044.
Cheung W., Wildschut T., Sedikides C., Hepper E., Arndt J., Vingerhoets A. (2013). Back to the future: nostalgia increases optimism. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 39, 1484–1496.
Embolden Psychology. (22 December 2020). The Psychology of Nostalgia. Embolden Psychology. Retrieved from https://embolden.world/the-psychology-of-nostalgia/
Ludden, D. (2 March 2020). The Psychology of Nostalgia. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-apes/202003/the-psychology-nostalgia
Routledge, C. (26 April 2021). The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2021/04/the-surprising-power-of-nostalgia-at-work
Routledge C., Wildschut T., Sedikides C., Juhl J. (2013). Nostalgia as a resource for psychological health and well-being. Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass 7, 808–818.
Sedikides C., Cheung W.-Y., Wildschut T., Hepper E. G., Baldursson E., Pedersen B. (2017). Nostalgia motivates the pursuit of important goals by increasing meaning in life. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 48, 209–216.
Stephan E., Sedikides C., Wildschut T., Cheung W.-Y., Routledge C., Arndt J. (2015). Nostalgia-evoked inspiration. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 41, 1395–1410.
hope. 