What makes a person nostalgic? Is it a thing, a place, a smell, or a taste? Personally, I believe nostalgia can come from anything and everything a person has enjoyed in the past. While some might argue that childhood evokes the most nostalgia, I have found myself feeling nostalgic about the simplest things from just last year. For example, I miss the good times I had with friends and teachers while taking photography at Chiawana.
A person doesn’t need specific criteria to feel nostalgic. I believe nostalgia is felt by anyone who has had enjoyable experiences in the past and simply wants to relive or re-experience moments like those.
Familiar locations can also evoke nostalgia. Liminal space nostalgia, for instance, is the unsettling yet comforting feeling one gets from transitional “in-between” places, often captured in images of empty schools, airports, or malls. These spaces may feel vaguely familiar but lack specific memories, evoking a longing for childhood innocence or simpler times.
Music also plays a significant role in nostalgia. Have you ever heard a song that brings you comfort and reminds you of good times? It could be Christmas music that takes you back to when you were excited on Christmas Eve and couldn’t sleep, or it might even be the lobby music from Fortnite that you enjoyed in Chapter 1, Season 7. That music is special to me because I received a PS4 for Christmas along with the Fortnite battle pass. Every time I hear that music, memories flood in, making me realize how I didn’t appreciate all the little things that are easily overlooked.
Speaking of video game music, I believe C418, the composer of the Minecraft soundtrack, did an excellent job of capturing nostalgia. Whenever I hear his tracks, I am reminded of my childhood, playing Minecraft late at night with my brother and getting into trouble with our mom for staying up too late.
I wanted to learn more about what makes my classmates feel nostalgic, so I asked two of them. I first spoke with Isaac Torres. When I asked him what makes him nostalgic, he said, “Video games like Call of Duty and Minecraft.” I then followed up by asking how nostalgia makes him feel, whether it brings him comfort or sadness. He responded, “I’d say a little sad, but more like memories that remind me of both good and bad times in the past.”
Next, I asked Moses Rodriguez what makes him nostalgic and its significance to him. Moses shared, “What makes me feel nostalgic is playing older games that remind me of when I was a carefree kid. Nostalgia makes me reminisce about good times, but the events from back then also shaped who I am now, influencing my character and personality. So, I would say feeling nostalgia is an important part of life.”
I noticed a pattern: my generation often feels nostalgic about simple things like video games, and we share a common bond over Minecraft. When I asked Moses how nostalgia makes him feel, he said, “It’s not so much sadness; rather, it’s about being happy that those moments happened instead of being sad that they’re over.”
Whether you find this relatable or not, each one of us holds a special memory in the back of our minds that brings us back to precious moments in our lives.
