A Wall of Memories: The Journey Through Nostalgia

Is it possible to feel nostalgia in a moment you are still living? A fleeting second that hasn’t yet slipped into the past, yet you already know it will be something you miss? Why can’t these beautiful seconds last forever? How can I capture this moment so it won’t fly away, leaving me stranded on an island of plain souvenirs? The answer is I can’t. No one can. We can’t shield these memories from the restlessness of time. All flowers eventually wither, all leaves eventually fall. We cannot recreate the past to live in its joy again and again. But we can appreciate it for the beauty it brought to our lives.

Every morning, I wake up to a wall of pictures. But these pictures aren’t just photographs—they're memories, experiences, and feelings wrapped into still frames. They are the moments I reach for when the present feels less vibrant. In a way, they radiate warmth, defrosting the coldness of difficult times. Yet, they’re more than just images—they are pieces of me. Pieces of happiness, gratitude, and fulfillment. Sometimes, I find myself longing to relive them, but then I remind myself how fortunate I am to have lived something so beautiful, something worth missing. It’s a rare blessing to have experienced such beauty in life.

Growing up is a privilege. Looking back on life with nostalgia is an affirmation of how beautiful the journey has been. Even in the most mundane or colorless moments, there is beauty. We get to laugh, we get to cry, we get to grow. That’s life—unbelievably beautiful yet undeniably real. Each memory—each photograph on that wall—is precious because we’ve lived through days when the sun didn’t shine as bright. Those harder days make the good ones shine even more.

Without the difficult memories, the beautiful ones wouldn’t hold as much power. It’s through this contrast that we learn to appreciate the reality of living. Life, in all its messiness, is the ultimate reminder that every moment, even the fleeting ones, is part of a larger journey.