History is a friend of mine, she comes over to my place and we have a good time, but the memories she sometimes brings with her get out of line, get out line. Show me things I don’t wanna see, remind me who I thought I was gonna be, take me places I used to go, a long long time ago. (The Proclaimers, A Long Long Time Ago)

Is there a place for Nostalgia?

Well first maybe I should start with a definition. Nostalgia according to the dictionary is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.

I’ve long made a habit in many areas of my life of never looking back and keeping going forward. But tonight I found myself strangely drawn to a bottle of Directors in Dan Murphy’s and although this is almost a comical example I have to ask myself why.

Well firstly you might think, his probably always being drawn to strange bottles of beer in Dan Murphy’s and in the whole you are probably right. I do like to try new things, and beer is very much a passion of mine.

However, I’ve drunk Directors many times in my life with the majority of those being in the UK. To give you a bit of history Directors is named because the beer was originally brewed just for the Director’s of Courage Brewery. It was so popular they had to make in available to the wider audience.

So back to the question, why did I pick it off the shelf?

The answer maybe is Nostalgia. The smells, tastes and sight of that beer evoke memories of times gone by. We tend to view our pasts or times in our past through rose tinted glasses, we tend to imagine we were happier or more carefree than we were. This beer brings back memories of my life in the UK. I vividly remember a time when my father, grandfather and myself all went down the pub at 11 o’clock on a Christmas morning for a beer whilst my mother, grandmother and sister cooked Christmas lunch. I can remember thinking at the time how amazing it was that three generations of my family were drinking together (not really taking into account the three female generations were cooking dinner for us).

I guess I associate this beer with that feeling of pride, happiness and security, that world where I made little or no decisions, lived with my parents and everything appeared taken care of in the world. I associate it with thoughts of my parents and grandparents and Christmases in the snow with lots of presents and lots of relatives dropping in. But we paint those pictures ourselves, I’m sure if I lived through those times again, I’d realise that in fact what I’ve done is jumbled different times into one perfect scene.

I sit here now and can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing about my life, I love where I live, I love the people who surround me, I love how I’ve evolved over the years to where I am today but sometimes its nice to spend a moment or two reflecting on the old days. Thinking back and smiling at the journey that’s brought me here, the people who’ve passed in and out of my life, the smiles and laughter that echoes inside my head.

Is there a place for Nostalgia?

Yes in those fleeting moments when I’m not looking forward. I found a lovely quote the other day by Carl Bard and I’ll finish with that “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending”