I take a vitamin B12 pill every morning that requires I put it under my tongue for 30 seconds before swallowing.

Most often, I use whatever water is left in the tumbler my son gave me, and usually that’s melted ice with a very faint taste of the splash of Crystal Light blackberry lemonade I put in.

These past couple of mornings, the berry flavor of my B12 pill dissolving combined with the blackberry lemonade to create a very distinct memory from my childhood: the taste of Smurfberry Crunch cereal.

Nostalgia.

Usually, moments like these past couple of mornings hit me out of nowhere. A smell on the air when I first walk out the door that reminds me of the neighborhood I grew up in. Freshly cut grass, that one always gets me.

Sometimes, it’s the temperature, like a really hot sunny day that makes me remember being outside hitting tennis balls against the garage or begging my mom to put the tetherball pole up in the driveway.

Merriam-Webster uses words like “wistful” and “excessively sentimental yearning” in its definition of nostalgia, and I think that’s right. That’s what I experience, at least.

When I catch something that reminds me of a particularly happy moment or a time when I was content, the pang is deep and acute and happens somewhere in the bottom, middle of my belly.

The wish to get what is lost back, whether real or the more ethereal hope for a specific time, is physical.

Sounds terrible, right?

But actually, nostalgia is good for you. Once considered a psychiatric disorder, more recent research on nostalgia suggests it can boost self-esteem, increase meaning in your life, and foster social connectedness.

Agnes Arnold-Forster wrote a book on the subject and describes how nostalgic reflection “peoples” our mind and affirms the ties we have with friends and family. Even rewatching our favorite TV shows can trigger nostalgia through the relationship we build with the characters, although, as Anjum Naweed notes, these relationships are one-sided (and fictional).

So, my invitation to you today is to be aware of those moments that bring you back. Whether nostalgia or just a brief trip down memory lane, look for the ways you feel more connected and let that connection be a source of joy and lightness.

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