Nostalgia ~ the feeling of the season

defined by a “complex, bittersweet emotion characterized by a sentimental longing for the past, often tinged with both joy for past experiences and a sense of sadness for their absence.”

The October crisp breeze opens up a feeling of nostalgia within. Where you’re yearning for those childhood memories of jumping in leaves and homemade sweets sitting in the oven.

As a child, time moves slow. Each day feels like a year and each year feels like a lifetime. Slow mornings and long days. With afternoons filled with bike riding around the neighborhood as you so desperately try to catch up with your brothers. Cool air moves around you and when the evening hits, you wrap yourself up in the knitted blanket your mother carefully woven as you listen to the Sanderson sisters sing. Oh how you wish your mom would stop singing along. Tasting the warm butter biscuit melt in your mouth and knowing that after dinner a sweet treat is waiting for you. Not a worry at all, just living each moment.

Time goes by and suddenly it all happens so fast. Busy days filled with to-dos. Weekends of slow mornings start to disappear. The alarm gets louder. Schedules get filled up and you start to wonder where did all the time go.

I think that’s why there is a longing for something in the past as the leaves fall each October. Maybe that’s why we are more inclined to re-watch our favorite Halloween movies and make the homemade pumpkin pie. Searching for that feeling we once felt as a child. Where we were experiencing each moment as it came.

Nostalgia, the feeling of season. Something about the sun setting earlier reminds us how short and quick life can be. There is joy in thinking about that past but also a deep feeling of regret. The regret of not allowing yourself to savor every moment. Which I think that is the beauty of nostalgia. To be reminded of the joy and little moments you once experienced, so you can be present today.

We often forget the beauty in life. The simplicity of it all. Most of us forget the trees around us but once October comes we stop to admire how extraordinary the different colors are. That too is the same for our lives. Time moves around us so fast that we begin to have longing for simplicity.

So, October comes just in time to ignite that feeling of nostalgia. So we can be reminded to stop, pause, slow down and notice the things around before they’re gone.