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Nei (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer 

The feeling of nostalgia is one of those inexplicable and unique experiences. It is both a yearning for something impossible and a sense of gratitude for what once was. We seem to have a nostalgia-obsessed culture, we romanticize the “good old times” and place a very high value on vintage items. There is a unique joy that comes with the experience of nostalgia, it is a feeling we get from embracing, remembering and re-creating positive elements of the past.

We invite nostalgia into our lives in many ways, through fashion, photography, dance, storytelling and more. For me, music is my solace, and one of the ways I invite nostalgia into my life. Songs are like a time capsule of a moment in time, long gone but still so sweet. The throwback genre in music is the Gen-Z term for the golden oldies, a different name for the same thing. It is a way for us to indulge in the feeling of nostalgia, to time travel and relive our past, guilt-free.

Since I can remember, my parents have played music. We mostly listened to music in the car, but sometimes in the house. At most family gatherings, if there was no singing, there was a CD playing from someone’s car, or more recently, from a Bluetooth speaker. My parents often share stories of their lives before we (my siblings and I) arrived, and whenever they tell a story that starts with “oh that takes me back to,” it is usually inspired by a song. Some stories I have heard so many times that when I hear these songs today, I am transported to 1990-something and I am a fly on the wall. I imagine watching my young parents, before they were mine, living their lives, seizing their days in a time I can never possibly know. 

My parents played music ranging from 80s and 90s RnB to pop, disco and my father’s favorite, house music. My mother once shared with me the story of track number four, a memorable and iconic song among her and her friends. She would say, “Ask your aunt about track number four and see what she says.”  The famed fourth track in question was the hit song “You Put A Move on My Heart” on Tamia’s self-titled album. She told me how they would sing together at the top of their lungs to the lyrics of this deeply moving and profound love song. Tamia’s voice always felt like she was speaking to me, and when she sang, it felt warm, smooth and comforting, much like I felt in my mother’s presence. 

Listening to “You Put A Move on my Heart” today, the lyrics resonate on a much deeper level. Tamia’s voice still appeals to my inner child and soothes and calms her mind, but combined with the lyrics and the timing of her falsettos and the bass and keyboard, I am carried to a place so special and profound. Having felt this new feeling of love, with the butterflies, the heart flutters, the chest pains and the immense euphoria, I can only admire Tamia for the way she encapsulates the feeling.

At the same time, I am transported to 1990-something, imagining my mother and her friends (whom I know well today) doing the same thing. Music is a reminder that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to the human experience. Everything we feel and will ever feel has been experienced by someone before. It is not to say your struggle or experience is not special or unique to you, but it has been felt before, and there is a huge bank of wisdom in the art we make in the midst of those experiences. While we advance pretty quickly as a society, we do not change much in terms of the deeply emotional, spiritual beings we are.

Injecting a little nostalgia into your day-to-day life is never a bad idea. When you revel in the positivity of a past experience, you only regenerate that positivity in the present. The same applies to negative experiences, and that is the basis of post-traumatic stress. Sometimes what we don’t discuss often is the way that positivity multiplies when we actively bask in the joy of the past. Consuming art from the past is one of the best ways to enjoy what was positive. Or it can be a way of learning how to process and heal in the present. Today, I try to recreate my safe and loving childhood as an adult by playing music out loud regularly when cooking, cleaning and hanging around the house. It is a practice that keeps me grounded and reminds me of who I am at my core. When I am feeling lost or adrift, small practices of nostalgia bring me back to the center, back to the core of who I am, which we all know can be easy to lose in the strife of life. 

Embracing nostalgia can look differently for everyone. For some, it might be visiting old friends or modeling your dress style on a time long gone. Regardless, it is important to plug a little nostalgia into your day from time to time. The good feelings from memories can be regenerated and multiplied to create more positivity in the present.

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Nei is an aspiring writer who finds solace in music, meditation and long walks. With a belief in the power of conversation to make change, she’s on a journey to make her mark, and hopes to share her many thoughts and personal philosophies through the pages of her own books one day.