Really enjoyed this. Beautifully articulated re: why some forms of nostalgia really hit you vs. the manufactured nostalgia that seems to be everywhere but rings hollow
Beautifully done, Peter. Few if any of us can scrutinize our adolescence "if only I had acted differently, more truly . . . " A sense of having been false to oneself, and therefore others, is tough. Several of my own regrets, substantively rather trivial, hinge on this sense of being false.
And the football essay that you linked, which I read when you posted it, is fantastic. Highly recommended.
Thanks. I know I’m not the only one who had this experience. High school is all about trying on different personalities. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to get it right.
I haven’t finished reading yet—very compelling so far though—but I have trivia!! There’s a word for nostalgia for a time you never experienced: anemoia. I feel it (but honestly the happy kind, not the Don Draper kind) when I watch Dazed and Confused.
I’m not necessarily saying I needed to actually be like Seth Cohen, but I needed to stop trying to be like my friends and more like myself, which was more in line with a character like Seth.
I do believe that people can read when you’re putting on a front, even if it’s only on a subconscious level. I think that if I had just behaved a little more naturally, I probably would have had high school dating experiences that were closer to my peers (Having a girlfriend, going on real dates, occasionally hooking up at parties) instead of what actually happened, where absolutely none of that entered into the picture.
Really enjoyed this. Beautifully articulated re: why some forms of nostalgia really hit you vs. the manufactured nostalgia that seems to be everywhere but rings hollow
Thanks! Did not expect the former to come from a Fox teen soap opera from 20+ years ago.
Beautifully done, Peter. Few if any of us can scrutinize our adolescence "if only I had acted differently, more truly . . . " A sense of having been false to oneself, and therefore others, is tough. Several of my own regrets, substantively rather trivial, hinge on this sense of being false.
And the football essay that you linked, which I read when you posted it, is fantastic. Highly recommended.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks. I know I’m not the only one who had this experience. High school is all about trying on different personalities. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to get it right.
I haven’t finished reading yet—very compelling so far though—but I have trivia!! There’s a word for nostalgia for a time you never experienced: anemoia. I feel it (but honestly the happy kind, not the Don Draper kind) when I watch Dazed and Confused.
Back when there were no cell phones and the weed wasn't psychosis-inducing
I’m not necessarily saying I needed to actually be like Seth Cohen, but I needed to stop trying to be like my friends and more like myself, which was more in line with a character like Seth.
I do believe that people can read when you’re putting on a front, even if it’s only on a subconscious level. I think that if I had just behaved a little more naturally, I probably would have had high school dating experiences that were closer to my peers (Having a girlfriend, going on real dates, occasionally hooking up at parties) instead of what actually happened, where absolutely none of that entered into the picture.