I always wondered how you could have nostalgia for something you never experienced. Here is the definition:
nos·tal·gia
näˈstaljə,nəˈstaljə/
noun
1. a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations
The time periods and places I have a sentimental longing or a wistful affection for in the past, are things that I have never experienced and I really don’t have a happy personal association with. And as I have posted before…I’m in the wrong time period…in my opinion!
I’ve always loved the Civil War decade in history. The plantations were beautiful and the clothing was extravagant and lovely. But that’s not how I would have been living. My ancestors were generally pretty poor and farmers on my father’s side of the family. Hardworking, yes, but not sitting on the veranda sipping a mint julep. They were sitting on the porch smoking a corn-cob pipe wearing hob-nail boots…and those were the females! No, I never experienced that, but I have nostalgia for that period in history.
The next decade or so was just after the second World War. My Rubyville series is living those years for parts of two books. The research for that has been exciting and I’ve learned so much! I think that after that war, America was filled with hope and a sense of accomplishment. Fathers went to work and mothers stayed home, raising the children, generally. Life was more simple and I think people were more content with their lot. And they enjoyed their little world.
No, I was not alive during these years following that war, but I had grandparents that were and I’ve spent a lot of time in assisted livings and nursing homes. I’ve loved hearing the stories. Life was not all a bed of roses, but I think there was a peace and contentment then that is lacking today.
When I was a teenager, I loved the fifties. I wore circle skirts and saddle shoes to school…a lot, and I listened to the music of that time period. I had nostalgia for the fifties, and I still do. I have SiriusXM in my car so I can listen to ’50’s on 5.
Love this picture!When I was a teenager, I wanted to have a red, 1957 Chevy Bel Air someday. A Ford Thunderbird that same year would have been fine as well. I would still love to dress that way…if it didn’t look so strange. Again, there was a sense of family and femininity that seems lacking today.
Maybe that’s why I enjoy writing so much. I can re-create these worlds that I missed out on. My characters can waltz in a ballgown, full skirts over hoops with tiny slippers upon their feet. They can dance the Lindy Hop to the Big Band music of so many great artists, their saddle shoes keeping time. My characters can ride around in great old cars…and for them, it’s today.
The 1960’s swept in, the decade I was born in. I didn’t care much for the styles during that decade and they seemed to just go down from there. Pretty much the same for the music. The cars lasted until the early 1970’s and then the last of the muscle cars were gone.
I’ve lived since 1964. I can appreciate some clothing, music and cars over my years here on this earth. But I have nostalgia for all those decades before.
This Life is Real...and so are the Answers 