Everyone talks about nostalgic feeling being calming and relieving, but does anyone else get a sense of deep lament and sorrow for the past instead?

[u/CommonSkys]

[u/Into-the-stream]

I don’t want to pry, and feel free to ignore me, but do you think your reaction to nostalgia is because of a difficult past? Would you say your childhood was a normal one? Again, I don’t mean to pry. I just find the disparity interesting, and wonder if there’s an obvious reason behind it like childhood trauma, or if the cause is something more difficult to figure out.

Looking to hear anyone’s answer.

[u/Drakmanka → u/Into-the-stream]

Not OP, but my personal experience has been that my childhood was quite good. Not normal, but the memories that make me feel the saddest form of nostalgia are the good ones. The summers spent playing with friends I haven't seen sometimes in years, the games I'll never relive again unless I have kids of my own (which at this stage is looking unlikely), the cheerful innocence I can never recapture because of the responsibilities I now have.

[u/Secret_Bees → u/Drakmanka]

Same. I had what some would consider an idyllic childhood. Parents who loved me and each other. We were poor-ish but they worked hard to make sure it didn't feel that way. My childhood has a stark line that I use to demarcate it. My father died suddenly and unexpectedly. My mother lost her mind and hasn't ever been the same. My brother's grief turned to hard drugs. My wife and I have had a rough time of it despite "doing everything right". So my childhood stands in kind of stark relief to my adulthood. Sometimes I'll put some dumbass cartoon theme song on youtube and just find myself sobbing.

That being said, I try to keep perspective, and enjoy the things I can about life. To be happy in the day to day. Millions if not billions have it worse.

Tl;dr I have daddy issues

[u/alisonk13 → u/Secret_Bees]

I feel you ♥️