Nostalgia: Your Mental Health's Best Friend

Last week, we talked about the Beatles, which led me to listening to a bunch of albums I loved as a child. Listening to songs from my childhood made me feel really nostalgic, and that's exactly what we're going to talk about today: nostalgia!

We're both thrilled to explore this topic because it's one that Ann has been wanting to talk about for a long time. Back in September, she mentioned the word 'nostalgia' at an impromptu workshop—and ever since then, she hasn't been able stop thinking about it!

And rediscovering childhood music it got me thinking about how important nostalgia is not only for our personal lives but also for our creative lives.

So what does nostalgia mean? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, nostalgia is "a longing or wistful affection for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition." Basically, when we want something back that has passed or changed. And while nostalgia can feel very negative—like longing for something that will never be again—it can also feel really positive: like remembering how much fun you had at summer camp when you were 13 years old (and wishing you could go back).

Whatever your personal definition of nostalgia is, you know that our brains are wired for it—so much so that there's a name for it: the "default mode network." The default mode network is responsible for helping us recall past events and emotions, as well as allowing us to fantasize about the future.

And while that might sound like something that would be counterproductive to our mental health, research suggests otherwise. In fact, there's actually a lot of evidence that nostalgia can have a positive effect on your mental health.

There are some pretty serious benefits to nostalgia. Like, if you think back on those times when everything felt good, it can help with depression and anxiety by showing us how far we've come since then.

That's right. So maybe, instead of trying to move forward and forget about the past, maybe we should take some time to reflect on where we've been and appreciate all that's brought us here.Thanks for listening! We hope you enjoyed our episode. If you did, please subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and give us some love!

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