Mountain Dew recently announced it will be changing its logo yet again. This time, the refresh will be a tribute to an earlier design from the 90s. A new logo, yes, but at the same time, a return to the past. All this got me thinking, why are we so obsessed with the past? What is it about nostalgia that is so poignant, and why do we cling to it?
For most of us, nostalgia is comfortable and brings familiarity. It takes us back to our roots, reminds us of the known. It can be a way to honor our past and the trials and journeys we endured to make it to where we are today. Nostalgia in and of itself is not dangerous. It calls up emotions and feelings, often of home and longing and childhood.
However, there has also become this trend of collecting “retro” and “vintage” items just for the sake of it, and not for any value placed on the thing in and of itself. It’s a superficial interest in reminders of a nostalgic past. This is where I begin to have a problem with nostalgia: when it becomes showy and shallow. When the past is worn like a badge of honor to be displayed for all the world to see, we are cheapening our own histories.
It seems that the younger generation especially is eager to indulge in the “retro.” The early 2000s, which were only 20 years ago, a mere two decades, have recently become an aesthetic; cargo pants and flip phones are cropping up everywhere. When did that happen? I was born in the early 2000s. I’m too young for my childhood to be someone else’s Halloween costume.
But there is a healthy version of this, I think. Personally, I collect old books. But I don’t do it to show off an old book sitting on my shelf to anyone who walks into my house. I do it because when I hold an old book in my hands, I imagine the many hands that have held it before me. I think of the lives that the words on the page have changed before they found their way to me. It is about the history of the stories, a connection to the past. That, after all, is the value of these things. Connection. They bring people from different times together and bridge the gap between generations.
The current need for everything to be “aesthetic” is pushing discernment aside. We stopped looking at things for what they are, and instead, we only care about how they look. We need to care less about “aesthetic” appearances and more about substance.
This has also led to a strong desire to collect things. Again, not bad in and of itself. But this collector’s culture is only contributing to overconsumption and idolized consumerism. This isn’t helping. Perhaps instead of looking at relics of the past, we should acknowledge the past itself and move forward. Why are we being bogged down by artifacts that we have nothing more than a superficial appreciation for?
Isn’t our past worth more than a label? More than an image? We need to stop flaunting the past as an aesthetic and instead appreciate the past as it was simply because it was. In a world too enamored with the external, we should instead be focusing on the internal; values and emotions over vanity and a need to seem “cool.”
I recognize the value of nostalgia in and of itself. As a hopeless Romantic, I even support it. Nostalgia calls back memories; memories remind us of where we have been and push us forward. So perhaps instead of hopping on the latest trend or aesthetic, we should turn our focus to our own journeys, finding a deeper appreciation for past generations and building upon what came before.
