One bite into the plump ripe blackberry filled my mouth with a burst of sweet tart flavors flooding across my tongue, triggering an equal flood of nostalgic memories of summers gone by. Memories of the summers in Georgia with Daddy picking blackberries for cobblers and eating with ice cream brought a smile to my face. Thinking about happy memories of family no longer with us, previous homes and my hometown, fun summer activities, and the taste of those fresh picked blackberries baked into cobblers by the hands of loved ones and served with ice cream on those hot sultry summer days.
Next, came waves of nostalgia with summer memories from my early 20’s living in England. A British friend of mine was a recent Oxford graduate who had started his first professional job in the London Financial District, renting a room in a large home in the suburb of St. Albans from a friendly widow. His landlord was an incredibly talented baker. She would ask us to go out in summers on our bicycles to pick-your-own berry fields to pick fresh berries for her to bake into cobblers and crumbles. We would ride our bikes all morning to the fields picking gooseberries, black and red currants, and any other berries in season, bring them back to her to wash and prepare in the most delicious cobblers and crumbles, topped with crème fraîche that I had ever tasted. The aromas filled her home, as did the laughter and energy of the young business professionals she welcomed into her home. The nostalgia runs strong in that memory, wanting to pull me back to those long ago times of happy memories of youth.
The power of memory triggered by those blackberries also conjured multigenerational memories feeding the nostalgia. They reminded me of sitting with Mama and listening to her childhood stories of hearing her mother, my Granny Sis’s childhood stories in the brambles and briars of southern blackberry bushes with her mother. As the story was passed down to me, Granny Sis was a little girl and her Mama, my great grandmother Stella Mae, took her out to the blackberry patch one day to pick berries for cobblers and canning jelly. Great grandmother Stella Mae, as a good Baptist Christian woman at the time, had on a long dress. When they got way out in the berry patch beyond sight of the house, Great grandmother Stella Mae took out a wrapped package from the basket she carried, unwrapped it to reveal a pair of men’s denim coverall pants. As her Mama started to put on the men’s pants under her long dress, my Granny Sis asked, “Ma what are you doing? I thought women weren’t supposed to wear pants like men?” Great grandmother Stella Mae replied, “We need to protect our legs from the berry briars and brambles. And nobody can see but you, me and God. We ain’t gonna tell anybody. And God won’t neither.”
That story still makes me laugh 50 years later as it did my Mama and my Granny for almost 100 years collectively! All triggered by me eating a blackberry this weekend, the memories and nostalgia for happier times come flooding back like the berry juice flooding my mouth.
The taste of those berries, like a favorite song, have the power of nostalgia to take you back and make you feel homesick and yearn for a previous physical home, place, or moment in time in a version or chapter of life that no longer exists. And while it may be comforting to go there in your mind for a brief visit back in time, like anything else, moderation is important. Because nostalgia has both positive and negative effects and you don’t want to spend too much time there.
First, nostalgia is defined as “a sentimental longing for the past.” Research shows that when managed, nostalgia can assist with emotional regulation, resilience and meaning-making (finding purpose and meaning in the present and for the future). Nostalgia is also described as a self-regulatory resource people frequently use to navigate stress and uncertainty during change. It helps people find motivation needed to move forward with a sense purpose.
The challenge and negative aspects of nostalgia come in when a person dwells too long with the nostalgic memories. It can become a form of escapism, resistance to change, lack of focus on the present and future, and inability to let go. The key is to remind oneself of the dual nature of nostalgia and be mindful of how much time you allow yourself to sit with those nostalgic memories before coming back to the present. Be curious about what those moments of nostalgia are telling you that may apply to your current situation and future focus. How may the nostalgia be a psychological tool to help you navigate the change you are facing today?
I was reminded of the duality of nostalgia this weekend as well when the taste of the berries and other events triggered nostalgic memories of times with family and friends from chapters of life that no longer exist or are in the process of changing now. I at first felt a bit of sadness, longing for those days and not wanting to let go. But I’m reminded of the dual nature of nostalgia. So, that awareness allows me to pause with the nostalgia and reflect, giving thanks for those happy memories and that I was blessed to experience them, and create space in the midst of change to allow for new memories and experiences to come in. That way, the flood of nostalgia like the flood of the berry flavors, becomes a powerful psychological tool to help me navigate the current stresses, life challenges, and continue striving towards my personal and professional goals and dreams.
As always, I encourage you to reflect on what triggers moments of nostalgia for you. How do you remind yourself of the dual nature of nostalgia? How do you embrace the positive psychological attributes of nostalgia to help you navigate change? We all have nostalgic triggers like foods, scents, a song, a photo, etc. Consider the dual nature of nostalgia and tap into its positive attributes to help you navigate changes in your life and career without dwelling too long and encountering the negative aspects. Awareness of this dual nature may help you to assess how you respond to nostalgia in a healthy way to continue forward progress towards your goals and dreams. Embrace your stories and memories as your resilience toolkit to navigate change, because as always, Your Story Matters.
