I have always been a rather nostalgic person.  I come from a family of nostalgic persons. Reminiscing about fond memories can be an enjoyable thing.  It provides a pleasant touchstone to the past.  I am lucky that I have a good number of things to reminisce about.  I am also lucky that I do not seem very compelled to reminisce about bad things.  In recent times, however, I have slowly learned that nostalgia in the form of ‘this may be the last time I will ever.….’ causes much pain.  Furthermore, in the good number of times that I have done exactly that, I can not think of a single way in which that thinking has helped.  Holding on to memories and taking them out of the box every now and then seems to be a fine thing to do.  It’s a little like repeating stories around a campfire, just a little more solitary.

Nostalgia, mixed with the fear of loss can lead to bad outcomes for many of us.  I feel that it might be the root of things like hoarding and the failure to move on in life when that is what is necessary.

Nostalgia and sense of loss are two separate things, things that are best left unmixed.