Nostalgia for an age yet to come?
It's been a recurring topic of conversations I've been having lately - and I don't mind. It seems to be a greater number of friends who have the same train of thought as I do about this: living in the past.
So many people I've known stay firmed mired in yesterday. It's a security blanket, comfort zone - call it what you will. It gives them some form of joy and happiness. I don't begrudge them that. What I do think is that it's sad. It says they've be hesitant to progress from what was to what is. The moment someone says "high school was the best time of my life", you know that's where the conversation will inevitably lead. Remembrances of things that were minute and of a moment - and certainly doesn't mean something/anything to me now (or, perhaps, at any time) - is not really conducive to communication and to maintaining a basis of a relationship on any level. It just means that person is stuck on an emotional treadmill.
So many people I've known stay firmed mired in yesterday. It's a security blanket, comfort zone - call it what you will. It gives them some form of joy and happiness. I don't begrudge them that. What I do think is that it's sad. It says they've be hesitant to progress from what was to what is. The moment someone says "high school was the best time of my life", you know that's where the conversation will inevitably lead. Remembrances of things that were minute and of a moment - and certainly doesn't mean something/anything to me now (or, perhaps, at any time) - is not really conducive to communication and to maintaining a basis of a relationship on any level. It just means that person is stuck on an emotional treadmill.
I'm not falsely nostalgic; I can find warmth in a particular memory (or memories) and it can be joyful to share those memories, especially if you're with someone who was part of the experience with me. But constantly drawing on "remember when...?" is not pleasurable. It's unnecessarily draining. And for me, it doesn't help me to see or understand you as you are now. And, truth be told specifically, it's the friends I had who were into punk rock (as I was) that seem to be the ones who are there.
Adding insult to injury is saying things that a 17 or 18 year old would say; having almost the same look; wearing silly slogan-covered t-shirts - not having evolved over the decades is unacceptable. I have no respect for it. It's very disappointing to see so many people I (sort of) grew up with who haven't grown up at all. I'm not saying I have all the answers or I'm smarter or better, but I know there's a time when you have to let go of all the old bullshit and fallacy that was clearly misguided politics and views.
The beauty of this is being able to jettison and let go of all these people from my life. We have nothing in common anymore; nothing to talk about and no reason to pretend to hold on to a friendship that ran its course over time. I have - for good, bad or indifferent - become very much the "couldn't care less" type. And, again, that isn't in a mean-spirited or dismissive fashion. Why force conversation and pretend when it would make both of us uncomfortable?
Adding insult to injury is saying things that a 17 or 18 year old would say; having almost the same look; wearing silly slogan-covered t-shirts - not having evolved over the decades is unacceptable. I have no respect for it. It's very disappointing to see so many people I (sort of) grew up with who haven't grown up at all. I'm not saying I have all the answers or I'm smarter or better, but I know there's a time when you have to let go of all the old bullshit and fallacy that was clearly misguided politics and views.
The beauty of this is being able to jettison and let go of all these people from my life. We have nothing in common anymore; nothing to talk about and no reason to pretend to hold on to a friendship that ran its course over time. I have - for good, bad or indifferent - become very much the "couldn't care less" type. And, again, that isn't in a mean-spirited or dismissive fashion. Why force conversation and pretend when it would make both of us uncomfortable?
And so it goes.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say something about the passing of Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan. I was not a metal fan during my formative years; like every teenager, I had a copy of "Paranoid" and it was okay - I wasn't much for the sludgy-ness of it. Nor did I follow Blizzard Of Oz, but I did like "Bark At The Moon" a lot - it was in rotation a lot on T.V. in 1983 and automatically catapults me into that wonderful summer when I graduated high school. Over time, I grew to like Ozzy (and Sabbath's) music a lot more. And he was, without question, a funny, charming and charismatic guy with a good heart.
Hulk Hogan was the proverbial cartoon that was larger than life - I remember his initial entry into the WWWF, being managed by my hero, "Classy" Freddie Blassie - and he was a flop. When he re-exploded after his appearance in "Rocky III", he ignited pro-wresting into a completely different (and unexpected) stratosphere. He was a master showman; he made it all a lot of fun and he delivered those unforgettable lines, like "what'cha gonna, do, brother, when the 24-inch pythons run over you?"
Hulk Hogan was the proverbial cartoon that was larger than life - I remember his initial entry into the WWWF, being managed by my hero, "Classy" Freddie Blassie - and he was a flop. When he re-exploded after his appearance in "Rocky III", he ignited pro-wresting into a completely different (and unexpected) stratosphere. He was a master showman; he made it all a lot of fun and he delivered those unforgettable lines, like "what'cha gonna, do, brother, when the 24-inch pythons run over you?"
Regardless of how old I am or how old they were, they will both be missed.
posted by R L Ross at
10:01 AM
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