Is it inevitable that as we age we become stuck in the past?

Absolutely spot on. I'm guilty of living in the past (41yo) and still listen to the same music as I did in the early 90's. Reminds me of happy times with no real concerns. Whilst I'm now happily married with two great kids, we live 100's of miles from our families doing jobs we hate and with no social support network. Kind of miss some of the excitement / hope that I used to have.

Psycho-logist wrote:

I think everyone suffers from this...

Pay attention, everyone does not.

I'm 47 and having the best year of my life.

Heck I'm 18, and despite being a sophomore in college (supposedly the best years of one's life), I constantly muse about the glory days of high school. I'm also culturally stuck in the 50's-80's -- I only listen to old music and watch old movies.

'65 Love Affair wrote:

Heck I'm 18, and despite being a sophomore in college (supposedly the best years of one's life), I constantly muse about the glory days of high school. I'm also culturally stuck in the 50's-80's -- I only listen to old music and watch old movies.

First, you are too young to even think about commenting on this thread son. I have chest hair older than you.

Second, you can't be nostalgic for times in which you never lived.

Here's a quickndirty definition of the term:

The word nostalgia is learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of νόστος (nóstos), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word, and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning "pain, ache",

So yeah, nostalgia is one of the worst sentiments one can have. So to quote Tony Soprano, " 'Remember when' is the lowest form of conversation."

I think nostalgia has nothing to do with hope and everything to do with a lazy mind.

No, it is not inevitable.

Life changes but it doesn't have to completely suck!

I'm 39 and I admit that I look back with fond memories of past times. In reality, I'm glorifying the shit out of the past though. Those days in my teens and 20's that I think we're so great now were loaded with stress and insecurities.

When I'm 65 I'll look back and think of how f'ng great shit was when I was 39!

The more I live the more I realize that I need to live in the moment. Nothing else really matters outside of today. The past is the past and the future could end in a fire filled auto accident at any time.

Do something that makes you happy. Go for a run, eat ice cream, jerk off...whatever suites your fancy.

Some AP writer said in 2000 or early 2001 that we had clearly gone past the peak of "American Society" because all advertising and television commercials had become self-deprecating garbage. I was thinking the same at that time, and I put the peak at 1996.

So yeah, we had the internet, but not the banality of real smart phones yet, which have turned us into a world of idiots.

Nope. Mid 30s and I listen to Migos and schoolboy. I also expose college kids on the courts at the rec center on a weekly basis.

Lifer wrote:

Life changes but it doesn't have to completely suck!

I'm 39 and I admit that I look back with fond memories of past times. In reality, I'm glorifying the shit out of the past though. Those days in my teens and 20's that I think we're so great now were loaded with stress and insecurities.

When I'm 65 I'll look back and think of how f'ng great shit was when I was 39!

The more I live the more I realize that I need to live in the moment. Nothing else really matters outside of today. The past is the past and the future could end in a fire filled auto accident at any time.

Do something that makes you happy. Go for a run, eat ice cream, jerk off...whatever suites your fancy.

This is so true, I used to hate being photographed, but looking back I 'was' better looking than I thought, not any more though.

I'm 50 wrote:

Some AP writer said in 2000 or early 2001 that we had clearly gone past the peak of "American Society" because all advertising and television commercials had become self-deprecating garbage. I was thinking the same at that time, and I put the peak at 1996.

So yeah, we had the internet, but not the banality of real smart phones yet, which have turned us into a world of idiots.

Did you shake your fist at a cloud as you wrote that?

I'm 50 wrote:

So yeah, we had the internet, but not the banality of real smart phones yet, which have turned us into a world of idiots.

It has. I witnessed a car crash earlier this week caused by a driver fvcking around with their "smart" phone.

never was wrote:

Absolutely spot on. I'm guilty of living in the past (41yo) and still listen to the same music as I did in the early 90's. Reminds me of happy times with no real concerns.

The antidote for this is Iggy Pop's 2-hour music program each Friday on BBC Radio 6. He features new artists along with the old. Past shows are archived online and his narrative is always entertaining.

I don't think it's inevitable to get stuck in the past with advanced age. I tend to spend more time looking forward than looking backwards, but I have noticed I'm a slow adopter of new things.

NotPC wrote:

I think nostalgia has nothing to do with hope and everything to do with a lazy mind.

This^