Nostalgia

Gloria Steinem said on the Bill Maher Show that "nostalgia is a form of obstructionism." Can we move forward without looking back? Some do very easily- progress without looking where they've been. Others need the past as a reference. Nonetheless, the old ways are surely fading and the new ways need a tutorial. The challenge is keeping oneself ahead of the learning curve.

Do you feel nostalgia is a form of obstructionism?



Whether we agree with you or not- we love you Gloria!

Recently, Professor Gerald Torres of Texas University in Austin said "Nostalgia is corrosive."



Why would he say that about the "good old days?" To a degree - nostalgia is the response to the loss of discernible landmarks - either within one's external or internal landscapes. The loss of a familiar building or city block can be as devastating to an individual as a [|subdural hematoma]. Our ability to effectively navigate our internal and external schemas underpins our sense of well-being and usefulness. What makes nostalgia corrosive is if you steep in it too long, it will dissolve your resolve to create current landmarks (which anchor you to your past and recollections of a younger, more vital self) while fostering growth and equilibrium toward a future proprio-coherence and sense of well-being. The process of this acidic eating away at your tenacity to move forward in life is in itself an obstruction. There is also great danger in anxiety over becoming out-moded.

"If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for a belief." (1966) - [|Pier Paolo Pasolini]

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