What is nostalgia? Per Hepper et. al (2014), nostalgia comes from Greek words “nostos” and “algos” which means return and suffering. Learning this initially, I was unsure how that related to my own conception of nostalgia. The explanation is that it refers to homesickness and at the time the word was created it was used to describe the adverse symptoms of Swiss mercenaries fighting away from their homes. In the late 20th Century, nostalgia began gaining more attention which is demonstrated by movies, television series, clothing, etc. coming back as well as a boom in antique sales. Current definitions of nostalgia include a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past (Cambridge English dictionary) and a “sentimental longing/wistful affection for the past,” from the New Oxford Dictionary of English. Nostalgia is also defined as a “self relevant emotion associated with fond memories that serves psychological functions (Hepper et. al, 2014). Growing up, my cousin and I would listen to our grandmother’s and our mother’s discuss events from the past, laughing/smiling and at times crying. Everyone really seemed to enjoy talking about the past and at our young age we didn’t fully understand. All we knew was NOW, the present. As I have grown up, I now realize that I often do have a longing for some of the events from the past. Much of that for me comes from missing certain people who are no longer around for various reasons, changes that though some pleasant have caused shifts in my life that are unalterable, and simply that there were some basic pleasures then that are just not available to us now. I will likely make many blog posts about those in the future, but there’s too much to cover in one post. So basically, nostalgia is a complex emotion with some happiness mixed with some sadness or longing. So how is this beneficial? What’s the purpose of nostalgia? How often is nostalgia typically experienced? Per Hepper et. al (2014), it is experienced approximately once per week. There are many reasons for nostalgia. Some include a reaction to change, to unify ourselves and others, to assist us in learning, and so much more. Benefits include:

•  Repaired negative mood
• Boost of positive mood
• Increase self-worth
• Buffers existential threat
• Improves boredom
• Boosts perceived meaning in life
• Counteracts loneliness and increases social connectedness
• Increases interpersonal competence
• Engenders approach motivation and optimism about the future
• Impacts behavior (increased charity, donations, and helping behavior) 

Therefore, experiencing nostalgia is very beneficial psychologically. In future blog posts, we will explore nostalgia in different cultures, ways of experiencing nostalgia, and much more.  
Reference:
Hepper et al., 2014. Pancultural nostalgia: Prototypical conceptions across cultures. Emotion (14), 4, 733-747.