Time Traveling With TikTok
By Ana Velasquez, November 11th 2024
Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for a sense of the past, wistful memory of times we think of being some of the happiest and easiest moments. A time for which we weren’t in pain or in confusion, where the littlest things made us the happiest. I noticed as we get older the more, we feel a sense of nostalgia and the more we realize that even if we didn’t have much in the past, we were the happiest.
Social media is one of the biggest reasons people have such memories still engraved or reannounced in their minds. People sharing memories from their elementary and connecting with others not knowing that so many people experienced almost the exact same things. Nostalgia is one of my favorites and least favorite emotions. I love doing things that encourage me to get a sense of nostalgia, but I hate going into deep thought of when I was in that moment of happiness and how I can unfortunately never go back to it.
I loved going on TikTok and finding trends of my favorite toys when I was a little kid. Seeing things that I forgot once brought me so much joy and comfort. Seeing other people feel the same type of comfort I felt having that object. Especially letting people have an excuse to go out and buy their character without shame since most people only see it as a ‘TikTok trend’.
Seeing my favorite book, I thought no one else knew on someone's recommended list hoping that some little girl reads that book and finds a sense of comfort in the pages of it and in the characters.
I also love going into small children's stores and seeing the things they recommend to the new generations of children, knowing I grew up reading that same book and the same silly little characters made to teach us everyday lessons. And sharing those moments with my friends, seeing how different or similar their elementary experience was with the same or a different book just as important to them as mine. Getting a glimpse of their childhood without even being there to witness it.
Nostalgia is one of the many reasons people can feel in touch with their inner child mostly being most of the feelings would be when we were children. We’ve learned to not feel shaming in expressing happiness of finding our favorite treat, toy, or book and buying it to have a little reminder of our childhood. Although things might not be at all the same. Finding that sense of comfort we once had before is something that can definitely brighten your week, even if its just for a bit.
