For the first time ever - the Wednesday newsletter is on Tuesday. Why? Because this is what I am going to be talking about during my webinar tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST Join me and bring a friend!
NOSTALGIA AND OUR FRIENDS.
In recent years, our world has become more tense and uncomfortable, and the future is growing ever more uncertain and unpredictable. No one knows what will happen next, but the general trend is not pointing towards a better tomorrow, next week, or next month.
It's during times like these we need Friends. Not friends like Steve, Beth, and Kelijah, but Friends like Chandler, Monica, Joey, Rachel, Ross, and Phoebe!
These are stressful times, the pandemic, war in Ukraine, rising prices, and political uncertainty are enough to send even the heartiest among us running to hide under the covers... with our iPads. It turns out that for most people, nostalgia serves as a pacifier, a hug, and a warm blanky.
It's why we're seeing so many reboots; Friends, Sopranos, Sex in the City, and Fresh Prince of Bel Air, just to name a few. And, rumor has it that Frasier, Night Court, and Beavis and Butthead are not far behind (heh heh - FIRE FIRE).
All of this serves to remind us that what's old is new, and what's new is old.
The love of all things old is not a new phenomenon. But, nostalgia is magnified in times of uncertainty. In an article for the New York Times, Melissa Kirsh explains that, "Nostalgia is easily packaged and sold because it promises to create a community out of a cohort. We experience this every day on social media: Strangers become momentary pals when you swap stories of the music you loved or the clothes you wore when you were both in sixth grade. The internet is an endlessly renewing nostalgia mine from which anyone can, at any time, extract a cultural gemstone — a music video from the early days of MTV, a jingle for a product long out of circulation — and post it for all to appreciate."
The word nostalgia comes from the Greek language and roughly translated means, "a longing to return home."
For the moment, nostalgia is serving a purpose. It provides a retreat, a respite, a way to feel less alone. It makes sense that some of us would seek and find comfort now in pop culture that feels homelike, that's reliably soothing and predictable, in a world where so much is not.
But it is also limiting.
As I mentioned last week (and will do a deeper dive tonight), clinging to the past means not progressing into the future. The past is comfortable and predictable, while the future is the exact opposite. The pandemic and subsequent war have us all wanting to "return to normal," but no one aspires to be normal. You don't teach normal, program normal, or aspire for kids to be normal. You teach daringly, program creatively, and aspire to greatness.
Normal is limiting. Normal is boring. But more than anything, "normal" implies the past and not the future. The Pandemic has changed us, both professionally and personally and we should learn and grow from it.
As the word nostalgia states, we all want to return to home, but that might not mean the home of our past, but a new home. A better home. You would not want to return to a home without indoor plumbing, air conditioning or a dishwasher. You wouldn't want a home void of a TV, computer or Wi-Fi. Yes, you could return to that home, but it would not be a better home.
Yes, we need to be nostalgic, but nostalgic for things to come. Nostalgic for what's to be. And nostalgic not for what we were, but what we will become.
Tonight, I will be presenting I Teach for Me; A New Pathway Forward. During this forty-five-minute presentation, I will guide you through a reflective process that will remind you of the best that your past offers, but inspire you about what the future has yet to bring.
Bring a beverage, something to write with, and a friend.
NO, not Friends, they can wait.
Just a friend.
See you tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Scott