Blog 2: The Beauty of Nostalgia

Childhood is when we form our strongest attachments. Not only to our friends and family, but to book characters and video games as well. Which is why nostalgia hits us hard, especially much later in life. When we experience nostalgia, we’re going back to a time when we had little to worry about. Nostalgia is often calming because when we used a particular toy, game, TV show, book, movie, or album as a child, it was typically a calming and enjoyable experience. This is why Gay read Sweet Valley Confidential more than once, despite the writing being shit. The story brought her back to reading and collecting Sweet Valley books in order to escape the mean kids at school. Even though Gay mocks the Sweet Valley series now, she still cherishes the books that brought her solace during times where she felt out of place. The characters and setting of the stories were the only things in her life that didn’t change. While we may be embarrassed by the things we obsessed over in our childhood, we shouldn’t be. Because during that time, these things brought us comfort when we needed it most. So, embrace those urges to watch that old TV show you remember from when you were in elementary school. It’ll bring you back to sitting in your living room, feeling warm and happy, without a care in the world.