Importance of Nostalgia In Our Life Experience

One magazine that I recommend to counseling clients is Breathe. It is a magazine that is produced in the U.K. with articles that focus in on mindfulness and wellbeing. The writers often share research studies on anxiety, depression and wellbeing solutions from psychologists around the world. Their website is www.breathemagazine.com . You can find their magazine at bookstores such as Barnes & Noble, grocery stores and pharmacies. The most recent edition I purchased was on the topic of memory. There were a variety of articles related to aspects of memory. There were ideas on memory boosting, Dream work and memory, time, remembering friends and nostalgia. Probably due to my last post of reflecting on the life of my favorite teacher the article that stood out to me the most was one about nostalgia. The title of the article was “Look Back and Wonder”, by Ashley Lampard. Merriam Webster defines nostalgia as “a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition.” Last week as I shared about the death of my favorite teacher, Mrs. Clifford, There definitely was the feeling of looking at the interrelations of her friendship over the years and made me reflect on my elementary school years. There was sadness in the loss but joy in thinking back to all the good times in third grade and throughout the life journey in my relationship with her and her husband. These feelings related well to the part of the article that emphasized how nostalgia provides a “warmth from the past”. Thinking over the years since Mrs. Clifford was such a positive role model I was reminded of many positive aspects of her life and how that affected my growth and choices for the better. In the article there are ideas listed as to how to encourage Nostalgia. Some of the ideas listed were: Go through an old photo album, visit childhood hangouts, make a family recipe, reminisce with an old friend. Other ideas I thought of would be to write out a couple of your favorite memories in a journal entry. Listen to some of your favorite songs from that time period you are reflecting on . Make a gratitude list of what you are thankful for about your past. Obviously we don’t want to live in the past all the time yet when you take a nostalgic time travel in your mind back to the past it can be a positive experience. Times like that help you see how you have developed over the years and how you can continue to grow in your future. Reflection: Think over a favorite person in your past and write down how they affected you for the better. List a few of your favorite memories from the past. Why were they important to you?

Source of Inspiration For My Reading and Writing

Doing my blog was something I enjoyed over the past years but in 2020 as covid started up and I had finished my PhD I stopped. I am not fully certain what stopped me. I was exhausted after writing my dissertation. Then researching what was going on with covid was a time waster. Settling into work-life and family life after all my work on my dissertation took me off track as well. Underlying, was maybe thoughts of what good is the blog as I was not certain anyone was getting any good out of it. A life event happened a couple weeks ago that provided inspiration to get back to the blog. On May 14th, 2022 I received news that my favorite teacher, Mrs. Verna Clifford passed away. I have been trying to call her and felt something was wrong. It was sad news to hear for those of us who loved her but I knew she was joined now with her husband Parke in heaven. I joked with her friend who gave me the news that Parke on her arrival in heaven probably told her, “Verna, what took you so long". Mrs. Clifford had been my 3rd grade teacher at Woodford Elementary School in Barberton, Ohio. When my mom passed away in 1993 I kept in touch with her and Parke until Parke passed away in 2010. Each time I went back to Barberton to visit I would see them and later just her alone. After Parke passed away we took Mrs. Clifford on a cruise with us. That was an enjoyable time as she had never done a cruise and that is one thing she and Parke never got around to doing. What made her such an inspirational teacher? She was kind and caring. Those are two characteristi

cs that were her mainstays. Compared to other teachers I never remember seeing her get upset. On discipline in the classroom she would be firm with troublemakers but not lose her cool. She inspired a love of learning. Each week she read aloud books to the class and also encouraged reading of books that we students enjoyed. She also had us write stories in class. Her emphasis on reading and writing helped me improve in those areas. This was also the time period my love of reading took off. When I started my blog she would read it and enjoyed my book, Living More Than OK that came out of the blog. After my PhD was done she encouraged me to get back to blogging but I let life and the craziness of the COVID time period take me away from writing. Now that she is gone Mrs. Clifford’s voice is one reminding me to go back to something I enjoy which is writing this blog. So I will begin anew each week writing about Living More Than OK topics and books that I find inspiring.

I will never forget the inspiration on the love of reading, books and writing that Mrs. Verna Clifford built into my life as a teacher and then a friend later in life.