Nostalgia

My family’s recent trip back to where my wife and I started our married lives together (Dela Where?) was the recent catalyst for thinking about the meaning and significance of nostalgia.? We had a great trip visiting our past; our first house, the hospital where I did my residency training, the research lab where my wife worked, and the restaurants we used to frequent (at least those still there). It was also really neat to experience these blasts from the past through the eyes of our children who had not seen them before.? It was a trip down memory lane, but one that didn’t feel quite the same. Something was clearly different.? The following quote taken from Amor Towles' book, A Gentleman in Moscow, sums up my feelings better than I could:

• Why after so many years of longing for home did these sojourners abandon it so shortly upon their return? It is hard to say. But perhaps for those returning after a long absence, the combination of heartfelt sentiments and the ruthless influence of time can only spawn disappointments…? But no counsel, however well-grounded in history, is suitable for all…? For as it turns out, one can revisit the past quite pleasantly, as long as one does so expecting nearly every aspect of it to have changed.

We experienced a heavy dose of nostalgia during the trip.? But we also re-evaluated a number of these beloved places through the lens of our current lives; which not surprisingly, finds us in a totally different headspace 20 years later.?

In his book, Past Forward , Clay Routledge dives deep into the research on nostalgia, and in my opinion, helps separate fact from fiction for this sometimes misunderstood emotion.? Nostalgia, meaning “pain caused by the desire to return to one’s native land,” was first coined in 1688 by a Swiss medical student named Johannes Hofer.? It was originally thought to be a detrimental mental illness often discussed in the context of soldiers fighting wars in foreign lands.? In more modern times, nostalgia still has a bit of a bad rap as being a potential impediment to progress; longing for the “good old days” rather than meeting the challenge of change.? If there was anything this book helped me to understand, it was that nostalgia is a very necessary component of being human and making sense of the future by the experiences we cherish in our past.? Humans are fairly unique in the ability to be able to think in the past, present, and future, but that can sometimes leave us mentally adrift. Nostalgia helps to center us.? It connects us to our past, but helps us cope with our present circumstances.? It can also be a source of inspiration and hope for the future.? The author states:

• It seems intuitive to view nostalgia as in opposition to our progress-oriented nature because it involves mental time travel to the past.? But it turns out the journey to the past that nostalgia takes us on is really about the present and future.? If nostalgia were just a past-oriented experience, it wouldn’t make us feel better about our lives today and more optimistic about the future.? But it does.? If nostalgia were merely about the past, it wouldn’t inspire us to feel agentic today and motivated to pursue the goals that will improve our lives tomorrow. But it does.

So what’s the hook here for life at work and our journey as leaders?? Well, we have talked often about the challenge of continuous change in our workplaces.? We all struggle with that change, even if we intrinsically understand that it is inevitable and necessary.? To cope, and to anchor us to some sort of stability, we often long for times past and the pleasant memories of former colleagues and our work together.? Goodness, I still miss paper patient charts, handwritten triplicate orders, and the grease boards we used to track patients in the ER.? Sometimes I need to relive the happy memories of "hand cramps of the past" from writing so much in those long-retired charts. Doing so strengthens me, and helps me through the difficulties of the present.? These memories provide me the motivation to continue to pursue work that is meaningful and filled with purpose; even if it is hard and fraught with complexities and frustrations.? My nostalgic memories remind me that difficulties don’t last forever, but that the most meaningful things at work (and in life) don’t come cheap or easy.?

The last part of the book is entitled, “Using the Past to Build a Better Future.”?It's a fitting summary for how nostalgia can help us adapt to change, connect to meaning and purpose at work, and tackle present and future challenges.?

• Nostalgia exists not because we are a past-oriented species, but because we are a future-oriented one.? When we look for guidance and inspiration to build a better tomorrow, we need our cherished memories.? Nostalgia isn’t a weakness.? It’s an undeniable strength.?