A dive into nostalgia

I’m watching Ted Lasso at the moment which I've really gotten into and I'm not sure quite why, but I really like it. It has invoked in me some nostalgia to look back at my coaching career and how I've evolved. Nostalgia is a powerful bittersweet feeling of memories of our childhood, our first love, sad or golden moments in our lives, different people and so much more. It got me thinking so I started to Google to find out more and I was surprised at what I found. Nostalgia is more than just a feeling; it's a complex cognitive and emotional process that involves several regions of the brain. When we experience nostalgia, our brain releases a flood of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin, which are associated with pleasure, social bonding, and mood regulation. These chemicals can activate the reward centres of the brain, creating a sense of pleasure and happiness. Research has shown that nostalgia can also activate the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making, planning, and problem-solving. This can help us gain perspective on our current situation and find new solutions to our problems. Moreover, nostalgia can activate the hippocampus, which is involved in memory formation and consolidation. This can help us retrieve positive memories and create new connections between past and present experiences. This struck a chord with me because I think life is a mixture of reflection and action. If there is too much reflection it can lead to indecisiveness and procrastination and trust me today I procrastinated and watched an extra two episodes of Ted Lasso rather than take action and record this podcast. I was about to watch a third when I sobered up and forced myself to sit in front of the laptop and map out this podcast. And that's just it: there are times when we have to force ourselves into action away from the easy pleasures in life and do the work. However, work in the main for me is not painful and creates a different type of pleasure, the pleasure of satisfaction of having completed something. We all love the easy pleasure, the stuff that's delivered to us on a plate and there's nothing wrong with this as long as we remember that doing things and especially difficult things where a lot of the real pleasure lies because delayed gratification is so often sweeter than a quick fix. Unsurprisingly there is something called reminiscence-based therapy, which involves recalling positive memories from the past as a way of coping with stress. This is not something I'll be trying as I'm content to occasionally listen to the odd 80s song, watch an old movie or see a few pictures of the past, but for me, the present and the future are what really excite me – the adventure of every day and the fact that we never know what’s coming. Planning and preparations are so important but regardless of what we do the outcome is never certain and that is wonderful because opportunity comes in strange forms and ways to us if we are open to them. That’s me signing off on another podcast and as with all the others – just a meander down a path with me and something may resonate with you and if so I’m delighted. Thanks for listening and speak again next week.