One thing I have noticed about the aging process is the longing to replicate the simple pleasures of one's youth. As adults, we tend to lead fast-paced lives in the express lane, so it is natural to yearn for a simpler time in life when other people had to pay the bills and deal with the ongoing complexities of the day-to-day grind.
Too often, we can't go back to the family home because it has been torn down or sold several times over. Many of the cities and towns we grew up in have kept pace with the times and no longer look anything like we remember. And then there are the loved ones -- those who made us feel protected, valued and loved -- who now exist solely in our memories and hearts.
As I sit here tapping out this post, I am enjoying a snack that I also enjoyed as a child. I don't think the recipe and packaging has changed all that much over these 50 years. Stauffer's Animal Crackers is one of my life-long simple pleasures. Munching on these low-fat sweet crackers usually takes me back to summer days of bygone years. They remind me that some favorites never change.
Do you still partake of simple pleasures that hearken you back to your childhood?
Too often, we can't go back to the family home because it has been torn down or sold several times over. Many of the cities and towns we grew up in have kept pace with the times and no longer look anything like we remember. And then there are the loved ones -- those who made us feel protected, valued and loved -- who now exist solely in our memories and hearts.
As I sit here tapping out this post, I am enjoying a snack that I also enjoyed as a child. I don't think the recipe and packaging has changed all that much over these 50 years. Stauffer's Animal Crackers is one of my life-long simple pleasures. Munching on these low-fat sweet crackers usually takes me back to summer days of bygone years. They remind me that some favorites never change.
Do you still partake of simple pleasures that hearken you back to your childhood?
One of my favourite things to do as a child was to read a new library book while eating homemade chocolate chip cookies that are still warm from the oven.
ReplyDeleteI still do it every so often. :)
maybe part of the problem is our mobile society and the breakdown of the extended family that came with industrialization. Before that, there was the home, people didn't move around, probably lived by their parents, and eventually they were cared for by their children. An entirely different pattern of life than ours, where we lose value as we age, are disconnected from our families, and are eventually swept out of the way into nursing homes to die out of sight out of mind.
ReplyDeleteWeird world we live in.
I'm probably not really old enough to answer your question, but as a friend said to me today, i AM pushing 30 (just 28, actually!), so here goes.
I like to listen to George Winston's albums December and especially Autumn, which my mom used to play, usually in the winters or when it was cold out, after tucking us kids in for the night. I'd fall asleep listening to it, feeling safe, warm and loved.
It's the most powerfully nostalgic thing I do, I actually can get pretty emotional listening to what I consider is heavenly music.
Ah Brandon, I love those albums, but they don't "take me back" so much, they continue in my present. But last night my husband found the youtube videos of the Beatle's first appearance on Ed Sullivan...that's nostalgia!
ReplyDeleteAll these simple pleasures, the food ones especially, probably are connections to our mother...there are foods I think of and enjoy although my tastes have gotten more "sophisticated"--dulled by the five flavors?--hardly. I used to love Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Ravioli and La Choy canned chop suey, but don't choose these now...although I can taste them in my mind and if someone handed me a plate, I would eat it and be transported to childhood.