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During a full week in Myspace, I changed my mood from mischievous to nostalgic. Once done that, I started to receive messages from readers asking me what was wrong – given that some considered that being nostalgic was a bad thing in itself.
But I don’t think that being nostalgic for a week is such a problem.
So, here is the question of the week: how do see nostalgia?
P.S : For the next weeks, I shall be posting here the questions of the week under written form given that I will be travelling.
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There is nothing wrong with being nostalgic..at all… I think people think it is bad because the face when you are nostalgic on myspace looks sad almost. lol
What we see wrong with nostalgia is the same that we see wrong with every other emotion that isn’t euphoria or something close to it. Our society places too much emphasis on being absolutely happy and fine all the time, this is actually why some many people are depressed. By feeling the need to be happy all the time we don’t learn to cope with or embrace any emotion that is less than perfect; this leads to extremes rather than a nice spectrum of feelings.
There is nothing wrong with nostalgia, depression, anger, or even rage as long as we’re in control of these feelings and have a desire to solve and understand them. If more people felt less afraid of their less than happy emotions we would have less of these emotions.
I’m not an expert, this is just the way i see it.
there’s nothing wrong about being nostalgic unless you choose nostalgy as a way of living.. i believe that being nostalgic help us remind those things we learned about past experiences, and even maybe realize about a trainning we didn’t get during a good or a bad experience because it wasn’t the right time to learn it so being nostalgic permit us to go back in time and review our experiences…
Sash
Nostalgic almost sounds like melancholy which sounds like sad and then we cuold ask: What’s wrong with being sad?
I think nothing is wrong, every emotion is human and it’s supposed to be in you. If think that something is “wrong”, there sure is something wrong. Thne again how can make the separation between right and wrong as in good and bad if you don’t stop to reflect your feelings? Do you have to feel bad and wrong in order to feel good and love? Go figure….
Love, Sanna
In my “real” life, when I’m especially emotion driven I lean toward nostalgic. But my blog is all about being nostalgic as it concerns our values, our work ethic, our appreciations. Yesterday I posted a clip about Time Warp Wives that you’d probably get a kick out of. Have wonderful travels. Blessings… Polly
Hej Paulo Coelho.
I do not think, that being nostaligic is something bad…as you said: if its just for some time. It is even a good thing, contemplating about and reflecting the past. But I’m not sure if it is necessary to pass it on to all of your “friends” in myspace…
Have a nice holiday!!
Anja
Maybe one could call beautiful memories nostalgic and sad memories just part of remebering. Because, in the future some sad memories can be beautiful and thereby goes by as nostalgic. I also think nostalgia puts the now in perspective. It proves the now and it also proves past presents.
Hi Paulo,
I don’t think that a bit of nostalgy is bad. Nostalgy would certainly be bad if you didn’t do anything aside being nostalgic in your life.
love
Amanda
I like to feel “nostalgic” from time to time .. it reminds me of good old days ..
sometimes it may feels sad, if the memory “includes” a specific person who is not there anymore in my life ..
Being “nostalgic” is a good thing in my veiw, cuz it shows how much u cherich the memory u have in ur mind ..
Peace ..
Hello,
I’ve noticed too that the icon on MySpace is a sad little “smiley” for the mood “nostalgic”.
Only MySpace designers might think that there is some problem with that – or they just didn’t find a better smiley.
Best,
Li
Nostalgia, like all emotion, is neither good nor bad. It depends on our relationship with it because that is what defines it for us. Each of us has a relationship with our pasts and the quality of that relationship defines who we are becoming. At one end of the scale is a constant repetition because we allow our pasts to possess us and define our futures. At the other end is the ability to walk through the life and leave no tracks because we no longer carry our pasts behind us as burdens and reasons for being.
For me nostalgia can be a feeling that can be as simple as a fond smile for something I once was, a memory of another life, to a full blown emotional charge that takes me over. If it is the latter then I know I am still possessed by that part of my past and it is then for me to decide whether I still wish to carry it or not, or whether I wish to face it, acquit it with honour and lay it to rest. To become at peace with it.
Love and blessings
Rebecca
Nostalgia. Feeling nostalgic can be like a drug. A feeling we can loose ourselves in sometimes. Longing for something that we feel has past makes us feel very lonely here because it makes us think that something good is not existing anymore. As if abandoned to dark forest that’s not on the map anymore. From time to time this feeling tries to jump on everybody. If we would realise that anything good blossems and multiplies, and that love never dies, then we would not feel the past as something that is lost anymore.
You can also access your past (for example loving memories) as something that is found today as an invisible powersource that stays with you here and for the rest of your future life if you wish.
But for me that is not nostalgia, although on the outside it seems similar. The past, the future and the present are tree in One on some deeper level of life.
Nostalgia wants us to feel small and lost.
And if we do loose things, you can only loose things that weren’t yours or weren’t you in the first place. And that is meant to feel as a blessing.
Interesting questions, thank you!
Francisca
Hi,
I have just started to read your books. I started with Alcemist ( which was recommended by two mid-aged ladies) and continued with Veronika. I loved both of them very much! I am 28 yrs old Finnish woman and the books rise up so many questions in my life. I want to explore them and my heart. What do I want to do with my life, and what are the things that bring happiness to me. Thank you for waking up these important questions. That really matters!
After readin Alchemist, I remembered my childhood dream and started to work with that dream. Because, if you never try, you never know if you would have succeeded.
I hope all the best for you and I will be visiting your blog in the future.
BR,
Virpi (my blog is only in Finnish)
ps. Something of you reminds me of Kahlil Gibran.. :)
First of all i wanna say that i’m argentinian but i read and write in english so if you ever reply me ,I could de able to understand you.
HOW DO SEE NOSTALGIC?
my answer is that people see nostalgic like a disease(a bad state of the mind) ,i mean
if you are nostalgic you aren’t okey , but! if you’re happy it means that you are okey.Obviously if you’re happy , you’re okey , but the human being could feel nostalgic but at the same time fine about thoose memories or thoughts.
NOstalgic could be the solution to demote all the bad memories you can’t hide of.
GOOD NIGHTs
I think that the majority of people see nostalgy as something wrong, because we think of happiness as our natural state. It is like we are not used to accepting that we are changing from time to time. We are not statues, and we need to accept our different moods. Sometimes, nostalgy could be telling us that we need to get back to something or someone that we are missing.
I believe that we have to learn to appreciate our changing and evolving beings.
Been nostalgic is the feeling that we have when we remember any moment spent with friends and family. Is the sorrow for been away from them and homeland but at the same time it make you smile because of the great memories that we keep from them.
Dear Paulo,
Assim como voce eu tambem tenho a minha “semana” nostalgica. Acontece de tempos em tempos… fico calada, pensativa mas por um bom motivo. Fico feliz de poder ter realizado muitas coisas que eu gostaria de ter feito. Com todo meu respeito a voce e ao seu trabalho, estou realizando um giveaway com o seu livro O alquimista no meu blog. Sucesso sempre!! Um abraco, Vanessa
The only thing that might be wrong being nostalgic could be if the nostalgia is mingled too much with a high part of melancholy.We cannot forget past,and of course sometimes if we remember better times,sweet precious moments,that we not find nowadays anymore,is natural having this feeling of kind of regret,mean being nostalgic.
Nostalgia…pode ser boa ou ruim…boa quando nos faz lembrar de bons momentos…revivemos sentimentos felizes…ruim quando não estamos vivendo nosso sonho…nosso dia a dia já não nos satisfaz…então aquela lembrança feliz…é uma constatação da nossa amargura atual…um aviso…para mudar o rumo…avançar ou recuar…
X
OI PAULO!
SE ME PERMITE A INTIMIDADE.
HÁ ALGUNS ANOS ATRAS ESTAVA EU LIMPANDO OS BANHEIROS DA “FIESP”,QUANDO NAQUELE DIA DE COPA DO MUNDO {2002},DISSERAM:
-.CHE, ALGUNS FUNCIONÁRIOS NÃO VIERAM E VOCÊ PODE LIMPAR OS BANHEIROS DO ANFETEATRO!
-CLARO QUE SIM RESPONDI-
NAQUELE ANO ESTAVA EM CARTAZ O ESPETÁCULO MEPHISTOFELES,COM ANTONIO ABUJANRA, À QUAL FAZIA MEPHISTO.
O MEU TRABAALHO DE LIMPEZA ENCLUIA LIMPAR OS CAMARINS TAMBÉM.
ENTREI E SENTEI NA CADEIRA QUE O ATOR USAVA E FIQUEI PENSANDO….
O QUE VEM A CABEÇA DO ATOR MINUTOS ANTES DA ESTREIA?
ESTUDO,PESQUISA,DEDICAÇÃO,……
ME VEIO A MENTE UM POEMA DO VINICIUS DE MORAES…
OPERÁRIO EM CONSTRUÇÃO
E UM GRANDE SILÊNCIO FEZ-SE
DENTRO DO SEU CORAÇÃO
UM SELÊNCIO DE MARTÍRIOS
UM SILÊNCIO DE PRISÃO
UM SILÊNCIO POVOADO DE PEDIDOS DE PERDÃO
UM SILÊNCIO APAVORADO COM O MEDO EM SOLIDÃO….
TIVE UMA SENSAÇÃO QUE FOI COMO UMA PASSAGEM DO LIVRO AS VALQUIRIAS,QUE É A SENSAÇÃO DE ESTAR SENDO OBSERVADO COMO DENTRO DE UM FILME.E EU TINHA MUITO ISSO QUANDO CRIANÇA
ANOS DEPOIS SEM NUNCA TER A PRETENÇÃO DE VIR A SER ATOR,
ME TORNEI ATOR.
.CHE MOAIS!!!!
ATOR E POETA….
DESCULPA POR TER TOMADO SEU TEMPO
MUITO OBRIGADO!!!
.LUCÉLIO AUGUSSTO BORGES
.CHE MOAIS
I saw one of the remarks on being nostalgic last week. I understood it as a teasingly remark. You said; you’d quit being nostalgic Sunday, and the remark, as I read it, ridiculed deciding when to be nostalgic or not. No doubt, the musical film clips, intentionally decided, was an inspiration for me personally, to go back to some past experiences during that era. They are very fun memories mostly.
Coming Friday is a one year anniversary for the death of a dear friend of mine. We often remember the dead on the day of their death. This kind of nostalgic is very sad, and it hurts to remember the loss of a dear one. I do try always to move on and live in the present, but find it a lovely tradition somehow to remember the past family and friends, for good and for bad.
Me perecio que el problema no fue que Paulo este nostalgico, el problemas eramos sus lectores que como yo lo consideramos un eje de fortaleza y alegria y nos sentimos un poco a la deriva, lo bueno de todo esto es que nos damos cuenta de lo humano que siempre se presenta ante sus seguidores Paulo C. y ese contacto es insuperable……Yo
I wish people were still nostalgic in the way they were when I was growwing up.
Ningún problema con la nostalgia solamente que cuando alguien está nostálgico necesita cariño y los amigos estan para eso.
Un beso Paulo.
Para PAULA BENZI: te he buscado en Orkut y no te he encontrado por lo tante te dejo aquí el enlace para mandar la foto.
paulocoelhocovers@gmail.com
Un saludo.
Nostalgia is good from time to time.. it can be very inspiration mood for one artist, especially writer.
Dear Paulo,
Nostalgic moments most often present themselves to me; I welcome them when they come.
Nostalgic feelings may remind you where you have been and how far you have travelled since. They may, as well, inspire you. Nostalgic moments may offer insight into your present, and into your future. Or they may simply serve as a temporary oasis.
Could I live without these moments? Probably. Would I want to? Absolutely not.
With love,
Diane :)
Being nostalgic isn’t that bad thing, because if we didn’t do have that habit we will be hollow, since in living without good memories we will loose the motivation to make thing that should bring good memories to us again, moreover it will awake our lovely memories & make us glad for some moments, and expose all our good optimistic wishes.
While taking this nostalgic behavior as stable mood for a long time could prevent us from planning to future & keep us living in a past that couldn’t be revive anymore. Also it could make us a prisoner of good memories and ideas, which once was effective but it’s not beneficial anymore…
But I believe in “It’s a must to be nostalgic from time to another, to know how beautiful was life & how beautiful it will be again”
The only thing I can see wrong with occasional nostalgia is that it sounds a bit like a malady that comes and goes, possibly having to do with the nose…
Guess my mood must be “mischievous…”
Really, it can be wonderful, especially with family and friends. Only not good if one gets stuck there in one’s private thoughts I think…
Paolo,
Nostalgia is a wonderful barometer of mood. When I feel nostalgic I pay attention to the accompanying mood. Am I sad, or does my mouth twist with the remembrance of another time? The former reminds me to listen to the second voice and check in with my state. The latter generally comes when things are going well in my life, and it is good to know I have the presence to reflect on how far I have come in my journey; and celebrate that things are not too busy for me to enjoy a quiet reflection. Each has its use.
Doug.
Oi Paulo, como muuuuitas pessoas vi ontem sua entrevista no Fantástico e por lá fiquei sabendo do seu blog e tudo mais…
Vi que vc recebe fotos de leitores com livros seus, então eu até tirei a foto com os livros que eu li mas não sei como eu posso te mandar. Enfim, gostei do seu blog, infelizmente eu ainda* faço ingles e não posso entender tudo, mas algumas partes eu pude entender :)
Ah! e mto obrigada pelas coisas que aprendi lendo seus livros.
Beijos :*
Oh.. nostalgic mood. It’s so wonderful! When you remember the most unforgettable moments of your life, they make you feel happier than you are now. There is nothing bad in it. You live, you feel and you remember. Feeling nostalgic doesn’t mean that you are in a depressed mood. In my opinion, the more nostalgic moments we have, the happier we will be. I absolutely agree with Thelma because nostalgia are invaluable treasures.
Love, Ugen.
Prezado Paulo,
Acompanhei a entrevista que o Zeca Camargo fez com você e que foi ao ar ontem no Fantástico. Fico meio atordoada toda vez que ouço qualquer coisa que você diga: Tudo vem carregado de uma representatividade intensa, ainda que sejam apenas frases, palavras. Saiba que você me inspirou ontem a agir de modo diferente, mudança que eu sinto ter sido para melhor, como uma porta que se abriu para uma oportunidade de libertação. Pode parecer meio brega o que estou dizendo, mas é a verdade. Foi muito forte e eu agradeço. Fico feliz que você se disponha tão generosamente com o mundo e reparta suas iluminações conosco. É um privilégio saber que minha jornada teve acesso à sua. Fique com Deus, abraços carinhosos diretamente de Olinda-Pernambuco.
My dear Rabsaris, you mentioned ‘roots’.So what your are today, you are because of your…’rooots’. Maybe you breath the air of another place, but your homeland is there in your heart and soul. Each one of us carries a whole world in our minds and memories and ‘nostalgia’ are our treasures.
LOVE, THELMA
Olá Dom Paulo Coelho! Resolvi deslizar pelo seu site após ver (por acidente) o endereço sendo citado ontem em um programa fantasioso da rede globo. Acabei interessado, antes de tudo, por seu blog (viva a Internet local onde até formigas como eu podem ter um espaço), porém não entendo inglês e não posso ler nada…
Dear Thelma I feel the same way about the “pink veil” when it comes to nostalgia. But nevertheless it’s there for a reason, maybe to remind us of who we are or more importantly what our dreams are. I know the feeling very well, I left home when I was 17, I left my family, language and culture behind me, so nostalgia to me signifies roots I maybe no longer have.
There is nothing wrong with nostalgia as long as it lasts only for a short while. It is a sort of refuge in the past, in the good moments of the past. I guess that it is a natural response from our bodies after having thought too much of the future in order to balance ourselves.
The only complete satisfaction resides in enjoying the present because it is the only one which can take us beyond everything else, into eternity!
If people were worried that there was something wrong, I believe that they care about you, there is no other reason, so you are a lucky person because many people care about your soul!
Have a wonderful week and may God bless you during your travelling for fun! It’s great to have a vacantion from time to time, to be able just to enjoy life, without pressures of any kind. I wish you to have a great time in your life wherever you go and whatever you do! ;-)
Love and appreciation,
Carmen Larisa
When you say you feel nostalgic, people tend to ask you if you are alright. Maybe mixing it up with depression.
Being away from my original home and the chosen home, friends and of whats left of my family for quite long times sometimes, often makes me feel nostalgic when I remember certain moments, places or songs.
But that’s alright. That’s Life.It just gets unhealthy when you get stuck in this and can’t get out and enjoy the Life the way it is now.
What we are today, as persons,souls, it is the result of all the moments we have lived. Our Aura has become richer, because of our experiences. Nostalgia is a greek word, again.! It carries the meaning of ‘missing something’. As we are ‘prisoners’of the Time, in this dimension to be able to look back with nostalgia is a “power’ of our FANTASIA. Time has the ability to ‘heal’ our wounds, so even when we look back, our memories are covered by a..pink veil. Of course, dear Paulo Coelho, we will be ..nostalgic and miss you in ‘you tube’…
LOVE.
THELMA
To Paulo,
I wonder if you have visited Alexandria in Egypt??
I am very much willing to invite you to see it from the eyes of an Alexandrian who believes that he is one of its guardians.
I bet you’ll feel nostalgic a couple of months after you make such a visit!!
Love,
Wagih
Being Nostalgic from time to time enables us to value life for what it is.
Actually, the older we get the more complicated we become.
The simple things which used to make us happy are no more simple but rather more complicated.
So naturally, your mind tries to push you to feel what you used to feel before but unfortunately you are pushed into Nostalgia.
oLA Paulo.
Via a reportagem no Fantástico ontem.
Só por meio dela que soube da existência de seu blog e por isso escrevo-lhe para parabenizar por seus livros, mas não tive oportunidade de ler nenhum ainda, pois são muito caros aqui no Brasil e que também adoro escrever.
Um abraço
Nostalgic are not = Sad. It´s the opposite. But. And. Memories – can help you – save you – thrue difficult moments….i am sure that the “survivors” in the c-camps during the second world war – and people around the world today who lives under extremly difficult circumstances they can´t control by themselves – survived/s mentally because of good memories back from the past…..it´s equal to story-telling. Imagination. We travel. Within. Thrue spaces. Thrue time. Cross the borders. And connect. With ourselves and with each other. It keeps us ALIVE. Living. Loving.I have always interacted the past with the present. And never separeted the two…..and drew a line. Between. That is too rationell for me. And children more than anyone…..LOVES it.
I think nostalgia can sometimes be seen as a bad thing as oft times when it comes to us it is due to the loss (or realisation of the loss) of something; something that means those beautiful moments dancing like fireflies in the reedy mists of our memory can never be recreated.
Friends gone long on their seperate ways, places we no longer live, youthful energy and enthusiasm it’s harder to muster…
Well, that and listening to this Joan Baez ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMHSbcd_qI ) song on repeat ten too many times can create some melancholy connotations :D
Nostalgia is a sad feeling, but in that period, you need sometimes to.
To understand some things, not especially to put yourself in expressing law feelings.
Maybe nostalgia comes from merely feelings, that are blocked in a place. Or else, expression of a time we have problems to let go.
The fact is that your lucidity permits you to leave that mood, at the date you decided to. It is mastered, so what’s wrong?
On the contrary, that was about good vibrations in return.
Nevertheless, it seems you like to show you’re a human, not a guide.
And to be wise does not mean we are unaffected.
Love.
I’m agree with the persons who writte before me. I think that’s sometimes we need remember some situations, places, persons,…And remember these things help us to assess ( I’m not sure if it’s the correct verb. It’s the gmail translation of “valorar”) the present time, the present moment.Also, sometimes when we remeber somebody who is not by our side, we feel close to us.
The important for me it’s not lose something of the present cause be living in the past.
Kisses from Barcelona
We are only nostalgic when we remember & miss those beautiful moments in our lives. We won’t be nostalgic for bad moments or situations. So, why not? If it puts a smile on our faces…
Faithfully yours … Hanan
I enjoyed your nostalgia Paulo. It reminded me of my good memories from previous times. It reminded me of the love I had for certain people that are no longer in my life. Thank you. Pepper
its good that we go back to our roots once in awhile and naturally, nostalgia comes.
as mentioned, nostalgia comes to the person when he or she has had pleasant memories at a particular place, setting or event.
and in fact, I feel that nostalgia is positive, simple because it keeps one in check and serves as a reminder to events in the past, of which good memories often reside.
Kenji
Nothing is wrong at all, sometimes we miss certain places, certain phases in life. nothing wrong in longing for them.
Nesreen
Of course it’s not bad to feel nostalgic sometimes because this means you have lived pleasant moments which you don’t want to forget.We usually forget things we don’t want to remember.However, being nostalgic all the time means your past is better than your present.In this case you must make changes in your life immediately because something is wrong!
Love,
Lia
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