When Nostalgia Hits
On memories and flashbacks. Plus tons of articles, tunes and more.
There was a blip of a scene in the documentary about that current HBO reboot show featuring three of my four favorite fictional New Yorkers (sorry, I refuse to use its new title) that took me back to a time in my life I’d nearly forgotten. It was so small; literally a millisecond of a moment, but it made me go: “Wow, remember when I worked way over on West 15th Street in the Meatpacking District in an industrial building that had giant freight elevators and there were no takeaway lunch options nearby besides Hale & Hearty?”
It’s wild how without visual or sensorial triggers we can sometimes forget such small details; such pivotal times in our lives. Then, suddenly—POOF!—there you are, going up to the 5th floor in a freight elevator to take your seat behind the receptionist desk at an independent men’s magazine called Gear where you can only afford a small Tomato Cheddar soup for lunch because your salary is the same amount as a 5-day African safari.
I’ve been rewinding to the past a lot recently because I am working on an essay about solo female travel for a magazine. I was asked by an editor to recall a big trip that solidified the benefits of going at it alone. I don’t want to give too much away, but in order to “go there” I needed to reread journals, look at photos, and play albums I’d listened to back then because “then” was 22 years ago. Thankfully, I have the journals and the music, but most of the non-digitized photos are in albums stuffed in boxes that have been pushed into dark corners of my parents’ low-ceilinged attic in Long Island, and Mom couldn’t find them—nor should she have to risk throwing her back out by attempting to. Yet again. (Sorry, Ma!)
Still, the tunes and the journals mostly did the trick and I am grateful for having such recordings of a time. There are so many benefits to reflecting on the past. Where we were then; how it led to where we are now. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s probably the best kind of overthinking we can do.
No dwelling. No what if-ing. And certainly no regretting. No, I’m talking about looking back for nostalgia’s sake. To remember the freight elevators. The soup lunches. The small, perhaps inconsequential details that make up the trajectory of our lives. Maybe they’ll only matter to us. Or maybe, one day in the far-off future, there will be a smidgen of detail that’ll be telling or meaningful to someone else. (See: the dozens of boxes in storage. Again, sorry M&D!)
So, I guess my message for today is: Write more stuff down. Take photos even if you don’t post them and consider making an album or ten. Listen to albums on repeat for a week or a month and then move on to another. Appreciate it when TV shows that maybe didn’t need to be rebooted, but were anyway, and, actually, you’re not mad about it in the end, remind you of parts of yourself you’d inadvertently stored away—both figuratively and in an actual box in your parents’ attic. Because what’s the point of doing and experiencing and living to just be all, “Thank U, Next”? Let’s maybe practice more “Thank U, Before.”
Bon week-end, mes amies. xx —Sara
Clickable
How to find “moments of enoughness” and peach “productivity gospel.” | GQ
Would you talk to a fireman or plumber this way? | The New Yorker
“The Miranda of AJLT and the Miranda of SATC are different.” | Vogue UK
Speaking of, who won and who lost on That HBO Reboot? | Vulture
FFS: “Not everything the internet treats as ambiguous actually is.” | Dame
Losing a southern accent—and a piece of oneself. | Jezebel
“West Elm Caleb” is definitely uncool, but slow the fistfights, K? | Observer
This major actor, however, can be canceled. | Medium
“Inshallah requires us to embrace the possibility.” | NY Times
Pregnant “cannamoms” are puffing weed. Discuss. | The Cut
Shared hallway bathroom: Yay or Nay? | Curbed
“The color of my skin is confused with the scope of my talent.” | Epicurious
The long, but beautiful road to becoming older parents. | The New Yorker
Watchable
I haven’t seen Encanto yet, but people (specifically little people and their parents) seem to love it. Still, without having watched the entire Disney film, I can see the appeal in this side-by-side video that shows a dance scene in both animation and live-action form. It’s cool to see how one becomes the other. And, wow, now I’ve got this song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” in my head after only one listen.
On Repeat: The Lumineers, Brightside
OK, let’s get that Encanto song out of your head and give you an album that, at some point in the future, may remind you of February 2022! My suggestion is The Lumineers’ Brightside. It came out in September, but somehow I missed that memo and only just discovered it. I’m particularly feeling the title track, along with “Where We Are” (key lyrics: “I don’t know where we are / where we are / but it’ll be OK”) and “Birthday,” which—heads up, friends—will now be the song I send you on your celebratory day of birth! Honestly, the whole album is a gift. In fact, it inspired me to buy a ticket to see them in concert next month here in Paris. I’ve seen them live a handful of times, and despite recently declaring that I’m going to stop doing that— seeing musicians I’ve seen several times before—well, I’m a fan! And I haven’t been to a concert in over two years. Sue me. So, if you like the folky, crooning sound of a couple of dudes from Denver stretching their voices over some piano, a cello, and a dozen other instruments, you’ll dig this.
Currently Overthinking…
…whether my eyesight has truly gone to shit—until I realized I was wearing two “right eye” contacts for the last week…and, also, whether I broke my big toe while working out at home yesterday. Big week for physical ailment anxiety!
Souvenir: Snoopy Sno-Cones
In honor of the Winter Olympics, which kick off today, let’s all remember our good friend Snoopy’s make-your-own Sno-Cones! I didn’t have one (I don’t think?) but my friend Amy did so she’s “sponsoring” today’s Souvenir. “Sno-Cones made me feel like a chef AND fed my need for a constant sugar high,” says Amy who, these days, is “Fed by a Frenchman” here in Paris. Follow her for fun market runs and tasty French recipes. Want to sponsor the weekly Souvenir? It’s a perk of being a paid subscriber!