Nostalgic Simplicities

Nostalgia

Of trickeling raindrops and flickering lights

Of flith dusted roads and cool silent nights

Of family, friends and people held dear

Of gestures of love and old childhood fears

Of people you know and those you do not

Of the family coffeeshop by the old carpark lot

Of memories and feelings that stir from astart

Of all that's important Of all in my heart

It's good to be back. Had my last exams a few days ago and now I am home, for the next 3 months at least. Exams were pretty tough but I guess it shouldn't be too bad.

Nostalgia. Nice word eh. People often confuse the word as something that reminds you of the past, not absolutely correct though. Its more of a wanting to be back in the past rather than a reminder. The sense of nostalgia occurs not my externalities but by the preceptual need to relive certain experiences or emotions felt before. I like nostalgic experiences, they keep me close to what I hold dear.

But television and the movies always depict nostalgia in a different connotation. Man walks home one day and passes an old playground, screen goes white and we see a flashback of him in his toddler years smiling joyfully as he defies gravitiy on the old tyre swing. Then he falls and his mother rushes to soothe him. The screen goes white again and we're back where we were. Tears flood his eyes as he grips ever sp tightly on the will of his late mother.

Its not always so. We face it everyday, every moment in time. The very basis of human nature is built on preservation. Some of us keep pictures, some blog, some alter their living environments and some even scar themselves. Evident efforts of preservation, a want or a need rather than a memory. For me, I simply come home. Just being home, breathing the air (though not exceptionally clean) and listening to the sounds are more than everything nostalgic.

The late night symphony of the old murmurring table fan with bases from Dad's snoring grunts. The morning orchestra of Mum nagging for me to head for breakfast with her. The 'beep' from the old microwave, the creaks of my bedroom door and even the 5 odd flickers that my fluorescent lamp emits before actually going on fills me sweet memories of childhood and my teenage years. Maybe they also remind me of my late grandfather. He had tons of stories that I as a child had listened so attentively to. They should make a good tale to tell here, but perhaps another time.

Epilogue

"If you can look back in your life with contentment, you have one of man's most precious gifts - a selective memory"

-Jim Fiebig