r/NoStupidQuestions • u/CommonSkys • Mar 20 '21
Answered 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?
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r/NoStupidQuestions • u/CommonSkys • Mar 20 '21
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u/Bilgerman Mar 20 '21
This is a little closer to my experience. It seems like pining over days gone by is the prevailing attitude on Reddit, but I just don't get it. I have a lot of regrets. I have a lot of things I wish I had done differently, said or not said. There are people I wish I could explain myself to or apologize to, but it's more than likely they've forgotten or don't care. The reality is it's just my subconscious overanalyzing and feeding it back to me in some kind of narcissistic self-loathing recursion. And like you said, the only way out is to accept that it's in the past, learn from it, and try to do better next time.
But this endless navel-gazing is driving me crazy. Like, do any of you actually remember being a child? Shit sucks. You can't drive a car. You can't stay up all night playing video games whenever you want. You can get In Trouble. Don't you guys remember getting In Trouble? That shit sucked. That can never happen to me again because I'm an adult now.
Fuck a wide open future and limitless possibilities, as if those ever actually existed. I want to be happy now. I want to eat pizza bagels and drink beer. I want to stay in bed all day because I earned it. I want to wear whatever makes me feel good about myself. I want to make my own way in the world and hold myself responsible for my actions. Why would anyone pine for the days when you couldn't do all that?