“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.” – Oscar Wilde
You remember, right?
You step outside your house, excited and eager to start a new year.
On your feet are new shoes, bright and unmarked, ready for those first few scuffs that you will at first try to rub off in a vain effort to keep them pristine, but will soon accept because you know the newness will not last beyond lunchtime anyway. On your back rests a backpack, waiting to be filled with books and homework and secretly-passed love notes from the cute new boy that will sit three desks behind you. You haven’t met him yet, but you’re positive that when you do, he’ll only have eyes for you.
In front of you is the bus or car that will take you to school. Or maybe you will ride your Schwinn or walk with a gaggle of your best friends. However you get there, your mom will be beside you—crying—before you take off, just like she always does on your first day.
Above you, the leaves on the trees that have watched over you year after year flicker green and gold against a cloudless, azure sky and, as they wave you away in the warm breeze with good wishes, one of them breaks off and floats toward you. You catch it and appreciate its early autumn beauty.
The world feels perfect and beautiful and wonderful because in that moment, you feel like anything is possible and, more importantly, you just can’t wait for it all to begin.
It is fall.
For many of us, some of our first, best, and most vivid memories are tinged with school-day nostalgia. As children, the time we started over—when the new year really began—wasn’t on January 1st, but in the fall, when we headed back to our classrooms and looked forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. We looked forward to coloring pictures and playing dodgeball and making science projects and then, as we got older, Friday night football games and homecomings and proms and graduation and heading off to college. Once there, we looked forward to dorms and parties and professors and deep conversations and the excitement of figuring what we wanted to do with our lives—where our futures seemed so terribly close and frighteningly uncertain yet so wonderfully full of opportunity and hope. The anticipation of everything was almost as exciting as all the fun we were having.
Then, we blink and here we are: Adults. Working at jobs that don’t seem to fit us quite right, wearing suits that feel the same way, and sitting in offices with claustrophobic walls. Raising families at home. Days jam-packed with soccer games and activities and meetings. Having to be in ten places all at once. Falling asleep at night exhausted, and perhaps, somewhat unfulfilled.
Feeling like we need to recharge—get some real R&R—but not knowing how to even begin to do that because we just can’t find the time.
We no longer have summer breaks to look forward to (unless you are among the lucky teachers who receive this privilege, and deservedly so). Ten-hour work days blur one into another, with no real new beginnings and no real end in sight. June arrives, and we’re not getting a well-deserved summer vacation for all our effort. August and September roll around, and we’re not getting a fresh start.
Days turn into weeks.
And then into months.
And then into years.
And then into our lives.
Everything begins to feel a little too close for comfort: the spaces we inhabit, the walls we’ve built that start to confine us, the lives we lead that feel like they should belong to someone else.
We begin to forget what the anticipation felt like, the hope of new beginnings that held unlimited possibilities. And the tragedy is that the life you end up living resembles nothing at all like the life you wanted for yourself.
We feel like there’s got to be more to it than this.
But then, on a walk outside on a crisp Autumn day—kind of like today—a leaf falls in your path. It crunches underneath your step and the sound of it, like the first few notes of a song you once loved, makes you stop.
And you remember.
You’re transported to your old backyard, where you’re running and laughing and jumping into a pile of freshly raked leaves. You’re lying on your back, watching the late afternoon sun slowly sink below the horizon, the warmth from its last rays your only respite from the cool night air beginning to chill your arms.
“It’s time to get ready for bed,” your mom says after dinner and homework. You smile as your heart skips at the thought of seeing the new boy tomorrow, because the promise of his smile makes you look forward to getting up every day.
It’s time to get ready.
Time to get ready for the rest of your life. Time to start fresh. Time to start something. Anything. Because lives filled with possibility, anticipation, hope, and promise are lives worth living.
Here at The Nostalgia Diaries, we want to be that leaf that falls in your path and gives you pause to remember the times in your life that felt simpler, easier, happier, and then use those nostalgic memories to write a better tomorrow for you, for your children, for your families, for your friends, for all of us.
Because now, when the world is filled with dark places and devastation and hate and pain, we have to start somewhere to become more positive people. We believe you can do that by remembering the past and using it to create a happier life today.
So thanks for joining us, fellow nostalgia seekers! We’re excited to begin, and more importantly, we’re glad you’re here.
A wonderful post. I love nostalgia posts. my blog is full of them. :o)
I am looking forward to reading all of them. :o)
Thank you! We look forward to reading more of your beautiful blog, too!
Lovely! Brings back so many memories.
It’s so fun to read your first post! You have certainly achieved your goal of being that leaf in the path. Your blog is one of my favorite things to read each week 🙂
Always nice to go back down memory lane. Funny how the first week of school really hasn’t changed that much since I was in school. We won’t talk about how long ago that was.
I love fall. You are such a great writer. Definitely takes me back to some great memories.
I love this quote “Time to get ready for the rest of your life. Time to start fresh. Time to start something. Anything. Because lives filled with possibility, anticipation, hope, and promise are lives worth living.” Yes, it is time! Love this post friend. xo~D Be You and Thrive
Oh this is your first post ever. Such a lovely introduction.
On a side note: I am probably the only person on the earth who hates fall with a bloody passion.
Love! I am a huge fan of fall, although I dread the impending doom of winter on the horizon!
Ohh the nostalgia gets me every year when back to school is happening and Fall is in the air! My favorite time of year with some of my favorite memories!
Oh, I love this so very much… all of it. This: “Then, we blink and here we are: Adults. Working at jobs that don’t seem to fit us quite right, wearing suits that feel the same way, and sitting in offices with claustrophobic walls.”
I always get excited, somewhat nostalgic, and pensive during the fall season. I’m not sure why. I guess the hope of a new beginning–I feel it more than I ever did around the New Year. All those years of schooling must have left an indelible mark on my life, all the way up to adulthood 🙂
Thank you for sharing this. Loved reminiscing about those cute boys and new sneakers and remember the feel and smells of a bright autumn day <3
How wonderful to go back to your first post. It’s just as beautifully written as your most recent. Between taking classes and teaching them, I haven’t been out of school since I was about 2, so I’ve had about 38 back-to-school/fall anticipation experiences. I think it’s lost a little of its sparkle over the years, but reading this makes me want to find ways to shake it back up!
I love Fall because of the beautiful colors of the changing leaves. So cool to read your first post. Love this!
Love this. Fall is one of my favorite seasons and time of the year. I love how things change during Fall. Thank you for sharing. I hope you have a great weekend.
This is so beautiful! I miss the rhythm the school year provided for my life. Fall was the start of a new year, and it was lovely.
Lovely! I still feel the new feeling in September that I always felt at the beginning of a school year. I think I’m just programmed that way! This is beautiful, a nice throwback to your first post. <3
I love fall and I think it’s bc it reminds me of a much simpler time as a child! Loved reading this! Perfect throwback post
I love that when you write about a season, you truly bring it to life. And it’s the same way in this post. Even though technically, Fall is “nearing the end” of the seasons, it really does always feel new to me and I love it!
i loved this post. I’m going back to work next month and it truly feels like a new beginning
wow, thanks for sharing! I’m still in the middle/end of my college career, and I know that once college ends, I’m going to look back and wonder where all the time went.. I should savor it, but I got so much stuff to do D:
Such a great post, thanks for sharing!! Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! xo