Wistful Wanderings: Exploring the Power of Nostalgia with Clay Routledge
In this captivating episode, hosts Doro and Tricia delve into the multifaceted realm of nostalgia with guest Clay Routledge, VP of Research & Director of Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute and author of “Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful Life.” Together, they uncover the deep emotional resonance of nostalgic memories, exploring how they shape our identities and influence our perspectives.
Through engaging anecdotes and profound insights, Clay illuminates the transformative power of nostalgia, offering a compelling journey into the human experience and the timeless echoes of memory. Listen to unravel the threads of the past and discover how embracing nostalgia can enrich our present and guide us toward a more meaningful future.
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Website: https://www.clayroutledge.com/
X: https://twitter.com/clayroutledge
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzp3m-F6KOisPBFr661xTMQ
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Quotes:
We exercise self-control in the present. We put aside immediate wants in the service of long-term goals. - Clay Routledge
It's not enough just to feed our bellies. We want to feed our souls, too. We have social needs, spiritual needs, and other interests beyond just the material. - Clay Routledge
The ability to imagine a future also allows us to time travel backward. When we worry about the future, we turn to the past to help us deal with it. - Clay Routledge
Show Notes:
CLAY ROUTLEDGE: Nostalgia is something that we naturally do. You're right. It is part of the human experience. And by the way, this is something that, though most of my own work has, has been focused more on the Western world. Um, there is now like a growing interest in psychology and psychology globally on on nostalgia. And so this is something that we can now say fairly confidently is, is, is there are some cultural differences, but it's largely universal experience. To be human is to experience nostalgia and a at a very similar, um, way, despite your age, despite your culture, despite, you know, despite these other differences between us. Um, so as far as, like, you know, really how to harness something that we're naturally doing, it's almost like exercise, like we, we, we all walk around and do things like that, that burn calories and, or that are good for us. But we also know that we can more intentionally focus on, you know, certain routines or certain muscle groups or things that, you know, to really enhance that experience. I see nostalgia as that, as the same, like we can do it in a more intentional way. And I think things like that are interactive. Or powerful. Obviously listening to music is is good and we talked about it.
CLAY ROUTLEDGE: Listening to music isn't necessarily passive if you're doing something with it, but it's a little bit more passive than, say, journaling or starting a hobby that involves interacting with something physically in a way that allows you to express your creativity. And so I think things that whether it's writing, whether it's, um, whether it's quilting, whether it's cooking, you know, something that allows you to really interact with, you know, the sensory inputs of nostalgia, the smells, the sounds, the, you know, um, and it is, is especially powerful because it's bringing online all these, you know, all these other, um, inputs. Um, but also like a big one is the social nature of it sharing memories. So you have your memories, you have your nostalgic feelings. They're they're yours. They're unique to you. Um, but it's it's also really powerful to tell those stories to other people and then they share with you. Nostalgia has this, um, you know, has this effect of, of, um, really pushing people out of them selves. Um, again, you know, using your Taylor Swift example or, you know, you saw this over the summer with the Barbie movie, um, with a, you know, Star Wars fans have been doing this for a long time, like people that have, like, nostalgic memories around, like, kind of pop culture themes.
CLAY ROUTLEDGE: They don't just want to keep that to themselves, that they want to hang out with each other. They want to talk about them. They want to put it on the internet. They want to they want to share their reactions to things. And so I think that's a that that's one of the more powerful elements of nostalgia is even though nostalgia is an experience within your own brain, it pushes you out of your head towards interacting with others, sharing with others, creating. And that's honestly how a lot of innovation happens. Like you, you take an old idea, you say, this is why it's meaningful to me, and then you pass it on and somebody else and the new and the next generation puts their spin on it. They bring it, um, you know, they make it more relevant to, um, to their challenges and their issues and their concerns and, and, you know, we just keep the whole thing going. And so I think really things that allow you to like to not just experience things by yourselves, but to go out to interact with others to and to really do something hands on is very powerful.
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