By Ghala Aldehani
I have noticed a trend of romanticizing the past — a past far gone and only preserved in memories — spreading around me like wildfire. The moment someone finds a flaw in the present, they escape into a nostalgic past — a flawless landscape far from reality.
It is now a trend not only limited to people, but stretched to reach the retail market. If you want to sell, put a price tag on the past and it will return with the intended profit. Companies not only within the region, but all around the world, have been bringing back discontinued items, returning to comforting old favorites. The further away it is from the present moment, the more it will sell.
I went into a specific retail shop at The Avenues recently and was surprised to see it packed with shoppers my age, after being empty for as long as I remember. The secret behind its resurge in popularity was that it has completely brought back 2000’s-style clothing, with everything looking like it came out of 2003 – a style that clearly sells in today’s market.
When reflecting on how people describe their pasts, it seems as if it had no flaws. A lucid dream that was perfect, comforting and far from reality. “Remember when?” is often said when nothing is said. Both sides of the conversation find relief in scrolling through memories, instead of living in the moment.
I wonder if, far into the future, I might find myself nostalgic for this exact moment. I wonder if people would reach for these fleeting moments as they reminisce on their pasts now, or would all they remember of now be how reminiscent they were of a time long gone?
We love to make sense of the present by looking for meaning in the past. People have started to rely on the mirage of a perfect past to move forward. But they forget that as they look back, the clock is ticking; the present moment is fleeting. Don’t get me wrong — I’m the extremely nostalgic. I rarely take pictures, afraid of the heavy heart that comes with looking back. I linger in empty hotel rooms before leaving, already missing what happened days before. I know nostalgia very well. But as cheesy as it may sound, living in the moment is as important as waiting for time to pass by, becoming a memory to revisit for comfort.
