-- GUILTY PLEASURE.
Whatever you do, do NOT try to relive your best teen-year moments in your adulthood. There is something to be said about the way we try to live in the present by living in the past. It is such an odd phenomenon.
I am a chronic nostalgic, as many know, so it's not uncommon for me to often look back at things from my past and miss them. In fact, I'd like to share that nostalgia is actually one of my big interests. It's how I stopped associating nostalgia with negative feelings, was by finding the good in those feelings and fixating on those instead.
It should be noted that I don't know how I did that, I cannot provide advice. </3 Unfortunately. And this does not apply to all my nostalgia... But it is typically not such a heavy (negative connotation) feeling for me anymore.
I have a habit of trying to make up for what I missed out on in my youth by allowing myself the experience in my young adulthood. This is actually pretty normal and quite a common experience in my generation, especially. Yadda yadda peter pan generation or whatever. The generation that doesn't want to grow up. And yknow what? Fuck it, yeah, I don't. Not if growing up means I have to lose out on being happy and having fun. Aging doesn't have to be so scary, but when we force the idea that aging means leaving behind all the good things in your life and roll with the concept that your youth will be your best days while your future is only bound to get worse, I think there's a reasonable explanation as to why people cling so hard to their past.
Rose-colored glasses off, I'm well aware that nostalgia can blind us. There are a lot of things I know and personally remember being shitty experiences growing up that I would rather not relive, but for the good things, oh what I'd give to experience them again. And yknow, for those that I can still experience, I happily do. Cause who said pushing my mid 20s has to mean I should let go of what brings me joy?
In case it wasn't obvious, my topic for today is childhood nostalgia indulgence. Or, if you're not a fucking coward, borderline age regression.
Age regression is often seen imitating youth, typically toddler-hood (What the fuck is toddlerhood?). But lots of people tend to skim over the fact you can regress to literally Any Age you've been before. Your tween years? Possible. Teenage-hood? Sure, not sure why you'd wanna, but it's also doable (This is a lighthearted joke).
In fact, personally, I quite like making up for all I missed out on from my tween to teen years. Lots of shit I went through took away my ability to have those "common" experiences for people of that age group, and the things it didn't take away, I cherish and miss dearly.
If there's anything I love, it's embracing whimsy. And oh, tween/teenhood can be so whimsical.
But here's the thing... While I love doing all this, I've learned a thing or two. Instead of mourning what I lost out on and trying to replicate the past, I like to take those things from the past and integrate them into my present- As if I never missed out on it at all. As if this is the now. And it's what I can remember it for, associating it with my present instead of associating it with a time in my life that has long since past and will never return. I have learned to essentially bring parts of the past to the present as much as I can.
Is it always easy? Goodness, no. I don't think anything worthwhile would ever be easy. But it's definitely worth it. It makes me happy. It makes my brain happy. And it's nice to know that I can look back on my present and not feel so regretful for living in the past, but embracing my present while still indulging in what makes me happy/helps me destress.
I know the topic is GUILTY pleasures, and I'm sniffing out all the dumb dumb idiot losers who are reading through this fuming and angrily muttering about how "A guilty pleasure is something that's typically seen as shameful enough for you to have guilt for enjoying!!!" Hi, yes. Take a good look at how people look at age regressors and tell me that isn't something that falls under guilty pleasure. I enjoy regressing when it's positive and of my own volition. It's not something I have an easy time openly talking about, but it makes me happy even if it's only being done to a mild degree- which most people tend to do without even realizing it.
Anywho, before I get sidetracked, allow me to share some of my favorite things I've learned to bring from my past to the present and enjoy as though it is something Of This Time.
Music-wise, I love vinyls, CDs (CD burning!!), casettes, and mp3 services. Physical media, I love DVDs, portable DVD players, magazines, comics/graphic novels, photo albums (instead of camera rolls/harddrives!), etc. I love hand-held tech like consoles, digicams, cd players, little walkie talkies, various other fun outdated techy gadgets, etc.
I also really love playing revival projects of games I grew up enjoying. Things like Club Penguin, ToonTown, etc. I like continuing to play ones that are still alive such as MovieStarPlanet, Papa's Pizzeria, Webkinz, AnimalJam, WoozWorld, etc. Opening them on a stressful day has gotta be one of the nicest feelings everrrr.
Things I enjoyed doing as a kid are my favorite/go-to activities when I'm bored. Going outside for photoshoots of random things, collecting toys/figurines, coloring with crayons or in coloring books, crafty activities, skateboarding/biking, roaming the mall with a pal and fucking off, filming silly skits, making music, yadda yadda.
There's so much joy in the things we have restricted to our youth!! There is so much joy in the things we once enjoyed within our youth that we Don't Have To or Shouldn't Have To let go of with age!!
I am still enjoying the small things in my life..
Here's a fun collection of imgs of activities and vibes I like to emulate/relive when enjoying things from my past.
just grew up around a lot of older guys so this was... This was my experience LOL.
My buddy Lomax posted wheis daily blogpost too! Check it out!
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