Is it joy then, or sorrow? What, that’s left lingering after those hours spent looking through old photos of times come and gone? Photos of old friends. Photos of new friends, made at home or on lands far away – of loved ones lost; of loved ones gained. The longing for a time; a person; a place. A feeling lost in time but forever safe in memory. We, or at least I, travel frequently down memory lane; unsure at times if I’m left feeling full or hollow as I reach the end of the road.

Nostalgia is a funny thing then isn’t it?

Memories seem to fade in and out of prevalence in our minds. Those most important to us however, maintaining permanent residence in the depths of our conscious. Anxiously waiting to rise triumphantly to the surface. Anxiously waiting to bring us right back to that spot, to those people; we remember like it was only yesterday, memories of two, five, ten years gone.

Is this then a gift or a curse? Me – I believe the former. At the end of the day, what is it that we might be more lucky to take to our graves than our memories and the love of those we’ve loved most in our lives?

Surely though you’ve heard at some point, someone speak the words “stop living in the past.” Is it possible to get too hung up on what was once was? Does hyper-focus on the past prohibit us at all from moving forward?

Where is it that we draw the line between dwelling on what once was, and using the lessons we’ve learned and experiences we’ve gained to build towards a more fulfilling and gratifying future?

In almost all cases I would believe the feeling of nostalgia to be a gift. A reminder, no matter how you’re left feeling afterwards, of something positive. Perhaps a subtle reminder of just how great things in this crazy, ever-heavier life can be.

One wonderful thing is that I don’t believe we feel nostalgic towards negative times. We keep those memories, of course – but those are a subject of their own. The wonderful brilliance of nostalgia, I believe, is its forever promise of good. The promise happiness; of love and joy.

It seems as though lately that I feel nostalgic, for some period of time, almost every day. Maybe it’s Facebook blasting us with daily memories. More likely it’s my continued correspondence with those I’ve met abroad – or perhaps it’s just that I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by such amazing people; people who are constantly improving, creating, travelling and inspiring, and in turn rousing memories of when I perhaps once did the same.

A funny feeling indeed. Something though, I feel to cherish.

And it is with that, I leave you these thoughts of mine. Perhaps left to make a little bit of noise with you. And I bid you, a fond adieu.