Nostalgia vs. Memory

"Nostalgia is a universal experience, present and prevalent across the lifespan." (Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology, Jeff Greenberg)

For me, nostalgia has always been a positive, invited feeling. I started reading about nostalgia and the psychology of it. I was curious as to why it is a distinct feeling that you get from some memories and not from others. At least it is for me. Actually more specifically it occurs when something sensory triggers a memory or distinct feeling, not vice versa. Is it that I've made my own definition of nostalgia that suites what I feel when I hear a certain sound or smell a particular smell. Do we all have the same definition of nostalgia? In reading a chapter online from the above book, apparently nostalgia has been around since the days of Homer 2,800 years ago. The ideas of what exactly it means have varied and evolved though.

There is a whole different neurobiological explanation but my eyes kind of glazed over on that website! The term is of Greek origin. In "The Odyssey", Odysseus was plagued with being homesick and wished to return (nostos) home. Because of his longing to return home, he was afflicted with unbearable suffering (algos). The term nostalgia was coined by the Swiss Physician Johannes Hoffer. It then was used to describe a medical disorder or neurological disease associated with soldiers' debilatating homesickness.
The definition of nostalgia as a medical disorder persisted in the 18th and 19th centuries. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the definition of nostalgia had shifted from brain to psychiatric or psychosomatic disorder relating to melancholia. And now, the New Oxford Dictionary of English defines nostalgia as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations”.

Then you have a whole bunch of other conceptual issues and existential functions...I don't even know what that means, I just thought the phrase sounded good! There are the structure and functions of the emotion: Is it an emotion? Is it positive, negative or bittersweet emotion? There are studies on it's emotional implications, and is it different from autobiographical memory (your own personal representation of your history) and what triggers it? Anyway, after reading the rest of the chapter I still believe that nostalgia and memory and such are very interesting and it simply amazes me how the brain and it's psychosomatic corners do all this "stuff".

I like nostalgia. It keeps me close to the great plastic smell of my new toys at Christmas when I was a kid. And it reminds me of the pleasure of smelling mom's old perfume...even though I can't quite place the name or time...I know that it was mom. The breeze, just sometimes, when it is just right and I am in the right place, leaves me laying on the bed I shared with my sister and the light pink curtains that were tied back over the rod to let the air through the open window. And one of my most vibrant ones, that occur a little more often than the others, is the pure pleasure of a very particular occasion. It's when the sunshine is bright and the temperature is warm, the breeze is almost still and the air is very quiet. To you it would best be described as mid afternoon on a summerish day, when the neighborhood is napping and you are alone with your thoughts. To me it is so much more because it is not just a memory...when it is just right then it is that feeling reserved for only the most significant moments--nostalgia.

I guess I totally understand what inspired over 300 years of scholarly research on this mysterious sensation.

***Nostalgic and Happy Times to All!***