We love our milkshakes. It’s the drink that screams Americana, from the whipped cream and literal cherry on top.
What is patriotism, but nostalgia for the foods of our youth?”
Recently, I’ve been feeling very nostalgic. The extended time at home has stirred that yearning for the past, for younger years. It’s inspired by the craving for the foods I grew up on, the music that filled my afternoons, and the stories that shaped the way I see the world.
In freshman year of high school, I wrote a research paper on the nature and conceptualization of nostalgia. There’s something called the discontinuity hypothesis that researchers attribute to its psychological function.
The discontinuity hypothesis states nostalgia is a means of coping with external threats; those who experience greater disruption or discontinuity in their lives will reflect upon their past more favorably than those who experience continuity.
Nostalgia is a coping mechanism. Our past offers solace and comfort that the tumult of the present cannot provide. It happens when the stability of our identity is compromised and restores our sense of self-regard.
Our sense of self has been broken by our circumstances. We question who we are, what we want, why we are. The last time we had these same questions and were still grasping for answers, we were younger.
To quote me at fourteen: the juxtaposition of the past and present pieces together the puzzle of how you see yourself.