I miss 2019 and before sometimes I just think about what the world would be like if Covid never happened. truthfully, in general, (not looking at individual peoples lives) the world has just gotten worse since then😢
Im autistic and i was a student over Covid and i loved it so much, obviously not the pandemic itself but the lockdowns, I was living with my family, spending all day lying in the garden in the sun, making damn iced coffees, not doing any work, not having to socialise, going on daily exercise walks in nature with absolutely no one else around… I miss having time away from financial/academic duties and being able to just live and I think that’s what everyone is really having nostalgia for
You can find a remote job if you want to continue living that lifestyle. The issues with the lockdowns is the lifestyle was mandated on everyone, even for those who didn't want it (like me!).
@@PASH3227 I've never had a remote job before, even though I've always wanted to. As an introvert, working from home sounds awesome. But, I don't know how to get such a job.
@@MatthewTheWandereralso one has to consider being autistic creates barriers for getting a job, especially if you live in rural areas, remote jobs are less common. I think its perfectly reasonable to miss the accommodations provided by the pandemic as disabled people when everyone else decided we don’t need them anymore.
ive never understood how people say nostalgia is bittersweet, to me it's gut wrenching. like even right now i can't even enjoy things fully because i know that it will be over eventually.
for me it’s like, in the beginning it was gut wrenching. But overtime as I tried to look forward more and cope w it, it’s gotten more bittersweet towards only certain memories tho 😭
There are actual studies showing that while nostalgia can be harmless, even beneficial to some people, other people (such as people with high anxiety personalities) can find nostalgia very damaging. Wish I could find the studies to link to it, pretty interesting
YES. And people will say “just enjoy the moment” like ITS NOT THAT SIMPLE AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. I just want to enjoy a moment while it’s happening but I get caught up thinking about how it will be over in even a few hours.
It’s so validating to hear someone else say that nostalgia physically pains them. All my life I have struggled with nostalgia being a very intense and gut wrenching emotion as well. I also think a lot of people (myself included) miss the slower pace of the pandemic. Going back to fast paced jobs, lives, etc. is jarring and I find that I yearn for the slower pace and better work life balance we found during the pandemic.
i feel this so hard. i think the slower pace of the pandemic and realizing how great not working constantly is, is what has made gen z want a different lifestyle from the standard 9-5, 40-hour work week. older generations call us lazy for it, but the way i see it, we don't want to grow into adulthood constantly stressed out and busy like they are/were.
I think part of it of being nostalgic for horrible things from the past is that we're trying to escape our current anxiety and go back to an anxiety that we now know what the outcome was and that we survived it, it's like a weird sense of having some ounce of control of said anxiety
my brother got diagnosed with cancer literally ten days after i got home from college for the lockdown (he is now cancer free). it was awful at the time but i am so weirdly nostalgic for those times now. it’s like looking back at a “simpler time” where i felt like i had a valid excuse for feeling unwell
Wow. "A valid excuse for feeling unwell" is SUCH a good description that I've felt in for a long time, but never been able to put into words. THANK YOU
That last part is so true. My emotions felt easily justifiable back then because my dad passed from COVID-- of course I'm doing poorly, my dad is gone. It almost felt nice to have a neat answer for why I felt so horribly.
Between the stimulus checks, most everyone having actual free time, and nature temporarily healing, it was truly a glimpse into how amazing life could actually be….
They aren't saying they didn't or that bad things didn't happen. They are pointing out that because society was forced to shut down, and capitalism was forced to halt a bit, that we got to see what would be possible with more guaranteed income, free time to spend with loved ones or alone, and that nature was reclaiming things and acting differently due to the lack of human activity (especially noise pollution). And that seeing what life could be like with more stability, human interaction/connection (even online), and more natural occurrences is a beautiful thing. Of course, this was not a great time for everything or everyone (especially those with abusive households or who lost their apartments.) Two things can be true at once. And frankly, it's sad that we had to have a giant pandemic for society to shut down enough for us to see we don't have to keep doing this grind that is killing us and the planet forever. @@KhaiNguyen-vm1et
@@KhaiNguyen-vm1etand we could have more free time more rest more relaxation be less destructive to nature and no one would have to die. It's just not gonna happen until the world is literally forced to do it. Which the powers that be won't force corporations and societies to make it happen. So I don't blame people for enjoying what will probably be their only chance to ever see it happen. Back to working ourselves to death!
I felt at peace during the pandemic because it felt like everything slowed down. I could never relate to any of the people around me having a really tough time and wishing for it to end because for me everything was much simpler, people cared more, online classes were great, there was no pressure to leave the house and my mom was still alive. My needs were better met during this time. When everything started rerurning to normal I felt anxiety while others cheered. From a neurodivergent, exhausted young adult's perspective who hasn't been able to attend offline lectures (even pre-covid) the pandemic was a blessing in disguise. Life has been worse since then.
Man it sucks that everyday life can be so awful sometimes. I honestly started liking it but then it made me upset i missed seeing people since being alone for very long makes me feel sad but hearing some have felt less pressure is really nice
@@Acorn905 I agree there's multiple sides to it! Socializing happened more online, sure, but not being able to see anyone in person does affect your mental health in a negative way in the long run. We need physical connections too!
I was an “essential worker”(Starbucks) so I have no nostalgia for the height of covid. I literally worked from like 6am to 4 or 5pm sometimes with like 2-3hr long rushes, had multiple panic attacks while dealing with entitled ass customers complaining about being stuck home, while I was “lucky to be working.” I know I shouldn’t, but I honestly envy the people who had time to themselves to work on little creative pursuits then.
Right? I didn’t know I could get unemployment so I was working at American Eagle, then a jewelry store, and then I was a Covid Safety Monitor helping bring back Broadway, where I was relentlessly harassed and called a N*zi for doing my job.
Also an essential worker (KFC) and same. Nothing changed except I didn't have to clean the tables as often since people weren't allowed to eat inside and customers were so much angrier. I wish I could have practiced baking more lmao
Same. I quit my job right before the pandemic started (obviously didn’t know what was coming LOL) and I couldn’t start my new job, which I was so excited for, and never got to do. Was ineligible for unemployment and so while all my friends got to stay home and buy fun things with their stimulus checks, I was barely surviving at all. I absolutely envied them for it. After a few months I started working at a grocery store - finally having a job was a blessing but working at a grocery store during the pandemic was crazy lol
It's hard for me to feel nostalgia for a time in my life where I was worried EVERY DAY that my severely immunocompromised mother would catch covid and die. It was quite literally the most stressful point in my life, and the only part about that time that I miss is the fact that my mom was still alive. So, I feel kind of weird about hearing people say they miss that time.... 🙃
I used to always think that if I could just pause life for 1 month and focus on myself, I’d be able to catch up on so many things and officially have my shit together. Then COVID happened and proved me wrong, because I had all the free time I could want and did nothing. So at least I can't use that excuse anymore.
Don't be so hard on yourself. There was a serious limit on what all you could do because everyone was stuck at home at the same time, too. No gyms, no fun social outings happening, jobs hiring less. its hard to get your life together when society itself is struggling to function like normal.
if you wanna do something, but somehow you're not able to, then it's clearly not your fault. look up executive dysfunction, its usually associated with ADHD but anyone can have some executive dysfunction sometimes, its very common in depression as well. lets normalize laziness and "not feeling like it" because its usually our brains and/or bodies telling us they have other needs that gotta me met first
I think that as humans, we got to see how the world was when we actually had time to do more for ourselves than the bare minimum. We got to spend time with ourselves, but also we got to see how everyone was affected. It was so drastic and sudden but it felt like the whole world was connected (as it was, but in a really unfortunate way). Nature healed for a bit too. I have bad nostalgia for 2020 cause it was the first time I had so much time to myself and to think, and also the first time where I didn’t have to see people getting ahead and feeling like I’m doing nothing, even though they might be living a more privileged life than I was.
I was feeling a little guilty for thinking how nostalgic i feel about 2020 and how i got to stay home, connect with my family, and really realize what it meant to take care of myself. Yeah the pandemic was (and in ways still is) horrific and scary but it was also a wake up call.
This!! The first six months of 2020 were the happiest I’d ever been, I had a daily routine, I could take care of my grandma, get my daily exercise and cooking skills honing in, do school online, play animal crossing, and watch a little anime all in one day! After that May was when it all went downhill, but I’ve made my New Year’s resolution this year to get back to the same state of happiness during those months (ie. exercise more, gain better work life balance, cook more, make more art, etc.)
@@cozycasasmr4510same 😢, I was sooo stressed out and angry with everyone while studying for the finals, but then having the break from class and meeting ppl gave my system SUCH a nice reboot, now everytime my friends talk abt how horrible it was I would feel sooo guilty that I couldnt even say anything 😭
I'm not discounting the suffering people went through, but, during the pandemic, the world slowed down, there was way less cars on the road and people lived simpler lives in general. I don't feel a shred of guilt for saying this because it's not my opinion, it's fact. I do feel nostalgic for that time and wish the world could be like that all the time (minus the virus). The problem is, you say you miss those days and people twist your words to try and make it sound like you're saying you miss the virus itself when that's not what I'm saying at all. It's like people are incapable of seeing the positives that came from that era, or perhaps they purposely don't want to because it went against their vain, superficial lifestyles. The lockdowns were the attention seeker's worst nightmare.
I’ve always felt there were two kinds of pandemic that people experienced. I was part of the essential aka sacrificial worker group-I worked 60+ hours a week and had several family members pass away after contracting the virus. So hearing people be reminiscent of what was, to this point, the worst time in my life that I’m still trying to process is so surreal. How badly I wish I could be apart of the people whose memories of the pandemic were sitting at home and playing video games…
The comment about the praise kink from the phlebotomist reminded me of when I was getting tested for gestational diabetes, where you get multiple blood draws in a few hours, and I pointed to the “good vein” that most phlebotomists went to in the past. But he looked at me and said “oh yeah, I’m saving that for later.” Had me leaving like “sir?? What are we” at like 30 weeks pregnant
i think another part of the nostalgia among our age group - so many people were "coming of age" in the first year of the pandemic it's compounding the nostalgia for a time many people are massively nostalgic for anyway. i turned 19 in june 2020. i was in my freshman year of undergrad, and hadn't started a Big Girl job yet (i worked in high school but mostly summers). i'm very nostalgic for that time....largely because i was an unemployed student with way less responsibility (versus now working full time and part time grad school), and i know a lot of people were in a similar situation. it's not that i miss the stress and overarching doom of the pandemic, i miss being younger and having less to do.
yeah i totally get what you mean. i was in my 1st year of uni and had a boyfriend. i would make myself cute little breakfasts before zoom lectures and then id call my boyfriend and we would go for like 5 hour walks in the countryside. plus the start of the pandemic was spring, so nature was like waking up. and every day it would get a little warmer and sunnier. and i was carefree and in love. now i can't remember the last time i went on a long walk in the countryside. and it's not even that, it's the fact that i was so young and carefree.
Starting college in fall 2020 made it so much worse, all social plans for the summer after graduating - cancelled, absolutely no help transitioning to college. I feel robbed of both a true college experience and my senior year of highschool bc we'd just finished applying to college and didn't get the chill senioritis we were promised
I’ve heard people say this but I’ve never been more lonely and distressed in my life than when everything shut down. I feel like people miss having the pressure taken off for a little bit and sharing a rare collective experience with others.
True for me the feeling that people where in this together felt amazing. Seeing a rainbow drawn on a window or families making parody songs, starting homeschoole with my mom, seeing Animal crossing grow and amoung us explode in popularity, it all felt weirdly cozy. But it alsow felt really lonely i knew others where stressed about their families and jobs and I didn't have anyone to see or anything to do it is nice to be able to see others
I've had so many blood tests and every time the phlebotomists get a glimmer in their eye over the veins in my right arm. One lady even called other people over and said 'look how juicy this is.' I wish I got that compliment on my ass but I'll take the vein compliment I suppose.
As an introvert I miss the lockdown sometimes. Just sitting at home barely working, my senior year of HS was in 2020 graduated in 21 and joined the army. Went to Korea (2021-22) they had lockdowns in Korea on base so you'd basically "work from home" in the barracks chill in my room play games and watch movies and it was such a sham and a breeze. Come end of 2022 I come back to America nobody is wearing masks anymore. Work is just work no more time for shamming and relaxing. I just get that nostalgia of having an unhealthy overabundance of time to myself with no consequences.
I have so many good memories from the pandemic, but as someone from Victoria Australia that had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, those memories are well overshadowed by the endless fatigue and depression.
thats so real. also from victoria and i come from a rural town so i could probably count on one hand how many times i interacted with people face-to-face outside of my family that whole year
Yes!! The only people I ever saw in person for 4 months straight was my family and even as an introvert, I was severely craving human interaction. I can't imagine what it was like for those who were living alone
I can't remember a single good time from those years, I was young but it was still the worst time in my life ever, as a teen now, I still feel the lingering feeling of it, idk if like is gonna be the same again
I was 13 when the pandemic hit, I really miss those spring mornings, not caring about online school, zoom calls and Kahoot, playing the ukulele (💀), watching animal crossing videos. It was a weird time to be growing up and I feel so guilty to admit it but I am glad it happened. I didn’t care about the rest of the world, just rotting in my room. It feels so painful to know that it’s over and I won’t experience it again even though in the long term it destroyed my mental health.
I played animal jam, animal crossing with my bestie at the time and I watched amphibia and the owl house but also was going through recovery at the time because I had back surgery though I liked it because I’m an introvert but now I really have no friends lmao💀
@@Irishmando15510 I hope your recovery went well. The friends I had at the time in 2020 kinda ditched me when my mental health was too much for them in 2022 💀, I spent over a year grieving that loss and feeling resentful. Im very introverted too and it seemed scary making friends, I guess my advice is to put yourself out there and push your limits, and as long as you look sad and lonely enough someone will take pity on you lol /j
@@salty_sour2469 my best friend I had at the time recently ditched me this year💀 she moved away and we kept contact but she became toxic and rude wouldn’t accept the fact I’m neurodivergent bullied me for my intrest I blocked her because she was too much to deal with Also her friends cyberbullied me so I blocked them lmao💀 overall making friends is hard for a neurodivergent person but I have two friends who have the same intrest and Same thing as me so that’s nice.
I was at the public library with my fifth-grade class researching Marie Curie for a wax museum project. I remember saying goodbye to my teacher and her saying "See you on Monday!"
it’s interesting seeing the nostalgia for 2020 when covid rates are at an all time high. i get questioned so often why i still wear a mask and how i must be insecure or something cus lockdown was lifted ages ago. like i literally live with my family who are immunocompromised and i will take a covid test the second i feel ill i do not play abt that virus! i do miss having little to no responsibilities as a failing sophomore in high school but it definitely was not a good time for anyone. this winter break left me feeling so hopeless as a college student cus it genuinely felt like the lockdown era. i was home for almost two months and doing virtually nothing. feeling lost and lonely is such a horrible thing to experience again.
+ my entire family got covid in late 2020 and my little brother got it the worst it was actually so terrifying. he was vomiting, had horrible stomach pains and literally shit himself like what the fuck. my taste wasn’t the same for months and i still have breathing issues today. i was 14/15 in lockdown and i feel nostalgic over being so young but god its impossible for me to miss those times of severe isolation.
This I feel like my mental health has gotten so bad now and is so much worse than during the beginning of the pandemic. In the beginning it felt like everyone was dealing with it together but now most people are ignoring it and the burden is on the covid conscious to protect themselves. Now people value going to a concert maskless over someones life. I didn't have such fear going out in the beginning most people were wearing a mask now im the only one in most situations and the risk is so high and the COVID numbers are higher now than ever now that I dread going out. I feel even more isolated and alone now than the beginning of the pandemic.
All my pandemic "nostalgia" comes from missing the time when the majority of people actually cared and tried to protect themselves and everyone else. Back when events were more accessible and masking didn't come with the risk of harassment. I miss not feeling like I'm missing out on life.
as someone who had to go through online school...i do not miss the pandemic. i went months without brushing my teeth in the morning and never getting out of my pajamas. its so nice to just go to school and be able to be outside around people and actually having school things again.
BRUUUUUUTAL, this made me realize even more how brutal my situation is, I'm still online schooling for several reasons out of my control, I am and have been living the same exact life since the pandemic, I can't even remember the last time I've spoken to someone my age
I was homeschooled before covid and i feel the same sometimes. That feeling of "school sucks" but "i miss having a routine and more social interactions"
I was a full time service worker during the pandemic so I can hardly relate to anyone’s pandemic nostalgia. I didn’t get to sit at home and relax. I didn’t get to talk to friends and family. I was interacting with the crazed public during a worldwide pandemic. Dealing with people screaming at the top of their lungs about how either masks were good or bad every day. It was insanity.
This reminds me of how I get really nostalgic for certain aspects of my childhood, even though my upbringing was very traumatic. I look back at all the shows, games, get-togethers, sleepovers, etc, with fondness because they were the only thing bringing a teeny tiny bit of positivity into my very negative life. It makes me question my own memories, like "was my childhood really that bad?" GIRL, YES IT WAS. 😭 Your brain is just trying to cope and hide things. It's hard to explain, I dunno.
i'm turning 18 this summer and the nostalgia i've been feeling since i turned 17 has been insane. I always wanted to be older ever since I was young and now I don't want to grow up and i've been feeling nostalgic for the pandemic. It was nice when I was 14 and didn't know what was coming for me in my high school years and my regrets since.
i’m turning 20 in about 2 weeks, but when i was 17 i used to get so stressed thinking about the “adult world”. i moved out and into a different city at 18, and feel a lot more relaxed about my place in the world. when you’re still in high school, it feels like everything is happening in a very linear progression. everything moves forward and you have to move with it. you figure out once you leave and see more things and meet more people that you can pace yourself. stuff can be really hard but it’s much easier to deal with at the same time. slowly but surely you will learn how to live. you get a chance to breathe a little better in the real world - whether you’re a student or working or anything in between i think it’s really important to hang on to older members of your community - whether that be relatives, family friends, or even slightly older friends. it’s very comforting seeing how your loved ones got through it. they were asking the same questions and feeling the same thoughts as you are now. it’s never too late to start, pause, pick up, revisit etc etc. also it’s very comforting seeing people a couple years older than you and realising they’re just as stupid lol
covid was a major reason for the development of my agoraphobia. like, i genually feel like being outside is hell and pain. (im trying to get over it) pandemic times were nostalgic, because we weren't around others, meaning - having the freedom to not be judged or bullied. imo most people are happy about being alone, but too much loneliness gets to your brain.
i completely understand that - being outside can honestly feel like you're touching a live wire. it's still impacting many aspects of my life and i hope that the agoraphobia on your part eases one day and life becomes a bit fuller ❤
Going outside became so hard after all the safety precautions from covid my parents had us do. For like 2 years my grades suffered bc I wouldn't use my computer at home after class bc I was too depressed to wipe it and I wouldn't go outside bc I had to change clothes before and after. And now that live on campus I still feel like I have to change my pants to sit on my dorm chair
this whole video really reminds me of the poem "nostalgia" by carol ann duffy. the word nostalgia actually means "acute homesickness" and was originally a diagnosis for homesick mercenaries who described a physical pain when remembering home.
@@whatcanidooo March 2020 was the first time I came out of my depression and felt like a human not because of quarantine so because of that it's something I am nostalgic for still feels so wrong to say it cause so many people suffered around the world
I was an "essential worker" during the pandemic, and it was AWFUL. I was forced to deal with rude, entitled customers (one literally called me a demon for wearing a mask) and having to work from 4am and not being able to get off until 2 or 3pm. Some people would go "thank you for your service 🙏" but I was forced to continue working even though all of my coworkers had COVID and we would be fired if we called off. Also my mental health was the worst it had ever been back then. I do not miss the pandemic whatsoever and I feel jealous for everyone who took the time to play Animal Crossing and persue creative projects rather than working to pay the bills.
As an agoraphobe, i have no shame about myself for saying that I MISS QUARANTINE!! That was the best time of my life! Its crazy that the worry i felt about catching covid at the grocery store during pandemic was less than the anxiety i had about going to the grocery store pre-pandemic. It was nice to see a society more reflective of myself for once and i'm glad some things have stayed, like hybrid remote work and telehealth. The big downside is it did make my agoraphobia worse via deconditioning...
also an agoraphobe, and i agree! lowkey, it was also nice to see the people who used to say to me "you're lucky, i wish i could just stay at home!" slowly realize that being at home and unable to leave when you want to actually sucks. it made them a lot more understanding lol
I can tell I became a bit more agoraphobic. Pair that with me moving to a new town. So, I’m trying to do some exposure therapy by going out without my husband to make me feel “safe”
I still remember grabbing a work packet from school that they said was in case we needed to work from home. That was the last day I would ever face a normal school day.
I’ve noticed that the 2-3 year mark after a year is when i will always be nostalgic for that year. Doesn’t matter how bad it really was. That’s the average time frame it takes for my memories to develop the rosey tint. Also what you’re describing is how I’ve always felt about nostalgia too. Listening to music i used to listen to or whatever. It’s never a good feeling it just makes you miss the times. But that’s normal no? Nostalgia is not a good feeling by nature. It’s a melancholic feeling. Its not nostalgia if it doesn’t also make you feel bad at least a little
thats me glorifying rotting in my room in high school even though i was genuinely planning to kms at the time and had breakdowns every single day. good times tho, apparently!!!!!
I have never heard someone explain nostalgia that way and I’ve been trying so hard to describe how it feels like to people. I almost teared up hearing you talk about it because I felt like I was crazy and so alone in this!!
I only miss the beginning of Covid, because my dad was alive and we all were together in the house as a happy family. He passed away on August 8, 2020. The pandemic was hell, we had a pandemic funeral and it was hell. Definitely not nostalgic. I had to decide who could come to the funeral, then who got a zoom invite to the funeral. It’s definitely left me very scarred.
I’ve been struggling with this kind of nostalgia these last two years and it has affected me so deeply, and made me feel so so guilty. Thank you for speaking about this, it definitely gives me a lot of comfort
You don't feel nostalgic for times or things that ended up truly harming you. We feel nostalgic for surviving successfully. My stepdad got diagnosed with cancer also in May 2020. He passed away a year later. I am nostalgic for May 2020 because I still had him in my life. I am not nostalgic for May 2021. Because it did not end well. You can be nostalgic for a difficult time that you got through successfully. You will never be nostalgic for a time that you came out of with a true loss or net negative. That's a signal from your brain reminding you to be grateful for what you still have, or have gained, currently. Go make even better memories with your mom ❤
Genuinely, thank you so much for this comment. I’m a survivor who suffers from severe C-PTSD and this past week has been exceptionally rough. This outlook shifted something within me and eased so much pain, I’m going to remember it for a very long time. Sending so much love to both you and your family🫂
Honestly, I dont understand how anyone could be nostalgic for this time. If you got to stay home and got to receive some sort of income that allowed you to stay home and not work, or if you had the opportunity to work from home, then I feel like you are one of the lucky ones. It wasnt that easy for some of us who didn’t have these options, 2020-2022 was honestly hell for me…
this is so true. Before I got on RUclips this evening, I went through my Snapchat memories and I saw videos of me and my little brother from for five and six years ago back when he was small now he’s a sophomore in high school, i’m in college. 😢
I remember when I went into a place that I felt nostalgic for and when I went into my entire body felt stuck and terribly excited idk my nostalgia is like that
i am soooo disappointed in myself for not capitalizing on the indefinite free time that i had during lockdown. i was playing among us and binging americas next top model and my friend quit her job and started a successful photography business. i try to give myself grace for taking time to rest and have fun but i feel like i wasted that time when i shouldve been going after my dreams. but instead, i am stuck in a corporate dead end with no free time, energy or motivation to do the things i truly love.
This is wild, I was literally just talking to a friend about this recently. Quarantine sunk my mental health to a point that I’m still recovering, because of that I ended up burning so many bridges, and I was financially destroyed… but I miss it all the time. But then I remember, just like you said, I don’t miss the pandemic I miss having time. The innocence of quarantine. Sometimes I want to do it over because hindsight is hella 20/20. Even though I didn’t need to be, my mental illness made me feel stressed all the time. I wanna go back and properly use that time lol.
same, I feel like I "wasted" quarantine. All I did was watch youtube and got drunk... When I could have been creative and productive. I'll never get that time back... 🙃
@@modkip25 Remember how uncertain everything was at the time. There was no timeline. Schools were constantly changing their reopening dates. That's why you were unproductive.
I’m swedish so I never experienced the pandemic. I just had to watch as everyone in other countries slowly got worse mental health, while I only had to stay 6 meters away from people when I was standing in the line for lunch at school. It felt so weird.
Omg seems like Sweden was the only reasonable country who didn't go through the living hell of restrictions like most of the other countries, especially Australia where you couldn't even walk outside your house 😡 You were truly blessed here in Sweden, seems like most people don't even realize that
Uhhhh Sweden was literally purposefully withholding treatment for elderly people during the early portion of the pandemic because they classed them as disposable. The pandemic most definitely did and continues to happen in Sweden. The pandemic isn't over.
its so nice to hear someone talk abt nostalgia the same way i feel about it!!! nostalgia feels like a punch in the gut to me every time i experience it and i felt like i was crazy for being so stuck in this bad feeling all the time. love this video!!
i think any sort of 'nostalgia' i feel for earlier in the p4ndemic comes from people caring. now that c0vid is the worst it has ever been and very few people are still masking/up to date on v4ccines is very disheartening and i yearn for the earlier days in that respect.
THANK YOU. I’m so tired of being the only person I know who still cares. I’m still living the exact same lifestyle I was in early quarantine but I have to watch people who don’t GAF living a normal life.
THIS THIS THIS. it feels so insanely tone deaf and disrespectful for people to say they “miss” covid and they “miss” the pandemic. how do you miss something that never left?? people are fucking suffering. but 100% agree, what I miss is when people cared. At least I could pretend humans cared about each other. now it’s too obvious everyone is jumping for any opportunity to kill those in their community. I miss feeling like we were genuinely all in this together, but instead everyone was so excited to leave us all behind
what do you mean by covid is the worst it has ever been? i'm genuinly curious. my country lifted all lockdown restrictions long ago and i was under the impression vaccination had made it a lesser issue at this point - as in vulnerable people might still catch it, but the same way they'd catch any other disease. i just googled it and the WHO declared it's not an public health emergency anymore in 2023. i don't mean any offense, but your statement really surprised me.
10:09 so well said!! I miss it at times but im only remembering not having to work, staying up late and watching tiktoks hours on end. But in reality I wouldn’t want to go back, I was struggling with my mental health so much. I spent nights crying and my dad made it insufferable at times. Very glad im happy where i am today instead! Love the video Nicole
I think you just made me realize that I actually have the gut-wrenching nostalgia version. I'm turning 18 this year and ever since I could remember, I never thought I would actually live to see the day. Quite literally because I have always struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts and I thought I would be gone before then. But here I am, 17 and just waiting until my birthday comes along in October. And recently I've been extremely nostalgic of those times and literally breaking down into tears and feeling so helpless because I will never get to be 8 years old at disney land and getting signatures from every character with my whole family and just being so naive to the world (I am literally crying while writing this). And I've just been so upset at the world for everybody being so mean and glued to their iphones instead of going back to how it was. I feel like I'm waisting my last year to ever be a teen as each day passes by it hits me that I will never be this age ever again in my whole life. I basically trauma dumped so my apologies for that, but thank you Nicole for making this video because I thought that nostalgia was supposed to feel gut-wrenching but apparently it feels bittersweet to people and allows them to keep going. I am trying to appreciate the moment I am currently in however it's been hitting me quite hard because 18 is a big change for me.
you will be okay, as scary as it is. Follow the things that make you feel that childlike joy again & keep at it until u find a new thing that does the same. That will make the present feel less fleeting, and time slower.
as someone who also didn’t think they’d make it past the age of 16, but has been 20 years old for 2 months, it becomes normal. i still can’t get used to the fact that i am indeed 20 because i don’t feel like what i perceive other 20 year olds to be like. but i can tell you, that you have so much more freedom and confidence in enjoying the things you actually like. my bed in my university accommodation is covered in a teddy blanket and my own plushies. i wear my cat hat with bells on the ears almost everyday. i dress however i want with less attention to what others might think of me. i indulge in “childish” interests like tinker bell or adventure time or walking through toy shops. i’m really struggling with getting over my teenage years but i need to remind myself that good days aren’t over 💖
im 25 now and i didnt think i'd make it past 18 either. time is a blur tho, i feel like i'm still 19 but at the same time i do feel way wiser now. i just know im gonna close my eyes for a second and suddenly i'll be 40
Here with you 🖤🖤 never thought I'd be 23!! You're amazing whoever you are! I bet you're killing it. I promise it'll get easier and one day you'll catch yourself planning for the future with excitement.
Im sorry you’re feeling this way rn. I also felt the same way around that point in my life which was about 2 years ago, and I feel like being in the pandemic amplified that feeling of not wanting to get older & nostalgia. Even though it is hard and easier said than done, we have to come to terms with the fact that we cannot go back to the past, but instead we can make the most of the present before it also seems to slip away from us in what seems to be a second. At 17, I spent a lot of my time overthinking about doing certain things, going out, doing things I wanted in fear of getting judged, so I strongly suggest you to pursue more of what you want to do, as small or as big as it may seem. Make the most of each day and do what makes you happy, God Bless.🙏🏼💜
I can understand this stuff, and see how it makes sense to people. But as someone who worked as a nurse in a NYC hospital through most of the pandemic, it's still just hard to wrap my mind around people being like "OMG the pandemic was the BEST!" My memories of the pandemic are more death than I ever thought I'd see professionally, families crying because they can't be with their loved ones in their final hours, and physical and emotional exhaustion. For months. Like, I can see all the explained reasons why people are "nostalgic" for it but... it's just very hard for me to understand.
i found u during those early months of the pandemic and u seriously became my parasocial bff during those lockdown times when i couldnt see my actual friends so i will always thank u for that nicole 😭😭
I feel like, for me personally, that time is twinged with this nostalgia for a time I wasn't expected to know what the future held. We were all playing it by ear and social obligations/norms were temporarily suspended Thanks for this great, genuinely impactful video!I guess I hadnt really unpacked that creeping feeling yet
The day lockdown started in my community was my birthday on st Patrick’s day and I went to school all dressed up only to find out over half the kids were in quarantine. I felt like I was in a dystopian zombie apocalypse and I was just trying to live in complete denial of everything that was happening and telling myself that nothing was real. My birthday has felt so weird and has given me anxiety every year since
i get this ! i have a march bday too, i had to have it on zoom and i baked my own cake and ordered an outfit off of amazon and the entire time my friendgroup just teased me and made fun of me, so now i dont really like celebrating my bday. i prefer to just do a regular get together, maybe gifts with my individual friendgroups. but this year is my sweet 16 and my mom wants to throw me a big party as she wasnt allowed to for hers, so im listening to her because she deserves that experience yk? but im so anxious about it i literally cannot sleep as i think about everything that could possibly go wrong idk maybe its normal to feel anxious abt that kind of thing but it was just so horrible
I recently found out I might have OCD and you describing your experience with going to Party City to recreate those experiences was. Oh my god. My jaw dropped, I didn't know that was OCD. I've been experiencing that since I was 10 years old. Kind of losing my mind now
Exactly oh my god. How are we 4 years into this decade?? 2019 feels like it was yesterday. If nobody has done a study about how the pandemic affected our perception of time, they need to because it seems like such a universal experience
Dude seriously. My partner and I moved in with my parents at the very end of 2019 & good god I can't believe we're still here. I'm psychologically dying here 😭
tbh from march to about the end of july it was pure bliss for me, i finally had time to rest and be calm for once, but winter 2020 and whole of 2021 was just sh*t it was terribly boring and depressing
my granny was in the middle of her leukemia fight during the pandemic, and i was in the same boat of making sure she was okay! glad to hear your mom is cancer free 🎉
i recently was diagnosed with obsession based OCD. just wanted to say your content bringing light to how OCD actually affects people really helped me push to get diagnosed. love your videos
My lockdown experience is obviously different from other people's experiences of it but it genuinely was the best time of my life and i don't know where I would be today if it never happened and I feel guilty for actively enjoying my time during lockdown rather than struggling the same way other people did
Thank you for making this. I have been talking to my therapist about how odd I feel about nostalgia lately. My parents were better than theirs were but they honestly still sucked and I've been unpacking that for the last five years or so. I recently hit a weird revelation where I realized I was more nostalgic for the pandemic than I was for my childhood. Which made no sense. I had long covid including brain fog and my wife has asthma so we were constantly worried. I need to process this video more but this has been extremely helpful. Also as someone who does not have OCD your other videos have been informative as well. I'm older than your target demographic (30's male) but I've been really enjoying your content. The Colleen Hover summaries have actually come in handy for making small talk during work meetings. Please keep doing what you're doing and thank you.
I just turned 20 and this video came out at the exact right time bc the amount of nostalgia i feel for 2020 and 2021 is crazy. It's not just nostalgia, im mourning the fact that i will never be able to relive that part of my life
this video is actually very helpful. I’ve been struggling with feeling nastolgic about the months in 2021 i’ve spent homeless as a result of a bad relationship. I’ve been shown a lot of kindness and felt torn over how i felt about the world around me and my own happiness back then. i knew deep inside that it was a rose-tinted glasses situation but needed to hear someone else say it to feel like it’s legit.
In 2020 CPS took me away from my abusive mother and placed me with a foster family. They were the sweetest people, lived on a 4000+ acre ranch with 2 other families on the property. I spent my time picking fruit, hanging out with the animals, swimming, playing tennis, and developing a relationship with two women who I had come to see as my family. So 2020 really was the happiest and most stable my life had ever been. That is why it does not feel bittersweet, it feels like a small death.
2019 was one of the hardest years of my life, so 2020 felt like I could finally breathe. Mainly it was the isolation that was nice but still such a tragic event for so many
Just want to note that the pandemic is still happening. Like as in, we are literally still classed as being in a pandemic, per the WHO. The emergency phase was ended last year, but not the actual pandemic. People are still dying from C0VID in significantly higher numbers than the flu, as well as being disabled in high numbers from C0VID. C0VID also damages immune systems, which is why more people are sick now more frequently. Additionally, for many high-risk people, quarantine is still happening. C0VID/the pandemic never ended.
In October, I realized that what I have been struggling with for years is OCD. It has been an extremely hard few months because of it, and I have felt so alone. No one has made me feel more seen than you did in just this one video. So, thank you for making me feel like I'm not alone in this
It’s both a traumatic and nostalgic time for me. 2020 was one of the best years of my life for the sole reason that it was before so much trauma occurred in my life. It’s funny you mention Temple U, as it’s kind of triggered me a little extra on a video I came to reminisce on the time of my life before my ex, who also attended Temple U. He was ab*sive, a r*pist, and just awful in every way, and he took away my naivety from the freshly 18y/o girl i was in March 2020. Despite my life being so much better now, I will forever miss the girl i was before meeting him on tinder in April 2020, and eventually dating him the next year. And for that reason, I think i’ll always be extra nostalgic towards the start of the pandemic. He destroyed a version of me that i miss so dearly, and despite all the work I’ve put into building a new, better life, I will continue to miss that girl who had not yet been exposed to some of the world’s worst evils.
I took care of a little boy during the Pandemic and honestly I am one of those people who are nostalgic as it was so wonderful to watch him grow up and teach him how to count and talk. ❤
This exactly, I moved in with my cousin to help look after her kids because her and her husband had to work ridiculous hours! I got to watch her oldest get ready for the 11+ and pass with flying colours, I got to do forest school with the youngest and spend hours at the park teaching the middle one to skateboard it was blissful and we went on so many adventures together in the local woods making dens and looking for insects
I think it is also worth thinking about how a lot of us young people, especially people in their early 20s like myself, have come out of the pandemic and been thrown into the Adult World which for most people is exhausting and depressing. We didn't have the proper transition from one stage of life to another because we were in this purgatory for a couple of years and so now, and the last good time we remember was being in school still and having time to have fun whle still feeling like a kid. And I think a lot of us still feel like we are kids because of that lost time, yet the world expects us to act like real adults, move on with our lives, but we aren't prepared to yet! At least speaking for myself, I am in my last year of university, my first year being during the height of covid and online school, and I just feel unhopeful about the future etc etc I'm sure most young people feel like this lately due to the current state of the world, and I personally have mild covid nostalgia that comes from the freedom that it brought and more so like, I want to go back so I have more time, I don't want to be an adult yet. idk
As a 42 yr old who graduated in 2006 into the recession, got fired from my first “real job “ and worked at Starbucks for a year until I was able to find another “real one,” I can tell you that you’re not alone and the time after graduating from college SUCKS AND IS SOOO HARD. Seriously. Not just speaking for myself but my brother is 4 years older and said his early to late 20s were the hardest time of his life. You’re in the biggest transition period you’ll experience in life other than having a baby. You’re literally jumping from childhood/adolescence to THE REAL WORLD and adulthood and trying to figure out who you are, what you like, what you want to be, etc. I felt like a child for a very long time in my adult life, I’d say into my mid 30s and even now sometimes. There’s a misconception that we automatically begin to feel like “adults” just because our age says we are adults. But keeping your sense of childlike wonder and play is SO IMPORTANT in life. Many people lose those qualities over time but many don’t. As an artist, I work for myself and that sense of wonder, adventure and play is integral to my success. And it’s integral to having curiosity to learn new things and laugh at yourself and evolve as a person throughout your entire life. Don’t feel like you have to have all the answers now or try to compete with where your friends and peers are. We all find our ways at different times, and your 20s are the time for experimenting and experiencing new things and figuring out what you like and where you belong! Don’t rush the process, enjoy wherever you are at this moment, and I promise things will fall together for you in time ❤
the regret for not starting things during the pandemic is so real. I got into reading again in 2022 and I always think about all the books I could have read while I was quarantining in my college dorm :/
I would argue that even tho we’re nostalgic about the positive things we remember from back then, it’s actually NEGATIVITY bias. It’s because we’re ruminating on the things we’re unhappy about right now e.g constant workload, no time for hobbies and wishing we could be in a time where we don’t have those things. It’s our brains being negative about our current situation and making it seem worse by casting a brighter light on our past. It’s the same as comparing yourself to other ppl online bcus you hate your life except it’s your own self so even more convincing. Back then we were nostalgic about pre-covid and probably in a few years we’ll be nostalgic about now even tho we’re having a horrible time in an economic recession. We always crave what we can’t have at a particular moment because we’re deeply unhappy with our lives! I don’t think it’s ’nostalgia depression’ specifically, it’s just depression and we’re stuck in a loop 😢
When you started talking about time passing by and us having no control over it…I felt it. The nostalgia for the pandemic bc at that time in March 2020 it felt like time STOOD STILL. Days lasted forever and I for once felt on the same page with everyone, no fomo no nothing. Omg now I’m gonna miss it
It's crazy how we can feel nostalgic for the worst times of our lives. The past always feels like it was better than whatever we are experiencing currently. We remember the positives, but not the negatives. Side note, the look is absolutely slaying in this video 💅
I hate nostalgia, it makes me go into an existential crisis, crying, depression, hurt, guilt. I feel it for covid as that was my young adult days, but also my childhood as I don’t remember a lot of it. I always cried myself asleep about missing or not embracing crucial moments of my life more than I should have. So looking back is a horrible feeling, I know most of the time I did nothing wrong but I’ll always feel guilty and want to go back. I completely understand how you feel and always wondered why people loved their nostalgic memories
Why did I used to cry the night after a great day thinking I should’ve enjoyed it more, or now I feel like the things I do remember like covid are only good things and I wish I was taken back. I know I should be enjoying what I have now, I’ve built a great life, but I feel guilty for always reminiscing on good and bad things in the past
the fact that you made a video celebrating quitting your job over 4 years ago also means that i started watching your videos 4 years ago and that’s something i’m happy to be nostalgic about😇😇😇😇
I get nostalgia for the pandemic because I didn’t have work and I got to do things on my terms but then I get the gut wrenching feeling because I was the most depressed I had ever been because I had no schedule so I don’t miss it at all I just miss the freedom
i was in a deep psychosis during the entire pandemic & it made me lose every single person in my life at the time & it ended when i tried to commit suicide. i was also being abused during the time & overall it was genuinely horrible . but i look back at it as wow i was so confident & i spent so much time with my friends & bf at the time & i enjoyed becoming a diff version of myself . i look back at it constantly with nostalgia but i was SO MISERABLE . i hate covid it took everything from me . i am so much happier now but i despise covid so much
i swear i feel so seen in your videos nicole 😭 i’ve been watching you since before covid and it’s so wild looking back omg.. i also feel nostalgia very deeply and it used to be so much worse!! THANK U for talking about this, it’s kinda hard for me to remember the pandemic but i feel like this vAlIdaTEd my feelings fr… i’m glad ur doing so much better too
I just wrote this down in my notes app yesterday explaining how it felt like a punch to the stomach every time I felt back in that time. so happy you made a video on it
I needed this video today. As someone who sobbed the day after high school graduation because I knew it was the death of my childhood, and grew up crying because I’d never get to relive being a kid again, this is what I needed. I have never heard anyone else describe something that genuinely causes me so much pain as well as you do. Thank you for this and I’ll go enjoy my old pandemic activities today
I don't miss the pandemic. I miss telecommuting. I miss the beautiful sky and clean air. Mostly, I miss the illusion of everyone being on the same page (I mean, it is still weird to think about how every country had a version of lockdown).
i feel like if we are very nostalgic it's because there is not enough happening in our present. i've noticed myself, when things are dull and boring i long for a different time of happiness and being excited about something new
Nicole I don’t think you understand… I have been struggling w this so intensely and felt like no one would get it. The pain and the fact I’d never get to relive certain things and recreating feelings AHHHHH ok just thank you for this this was so so so needed
whats so sick and twisted was i watched this entire video, and once ur end card music played, i felt nostalgia for watching ur videos in quarantine 😭😭 ill have to get out of there eventually
i graduated on my couch in 2020. i lost my great grandpa to covid and almost lost my great grandma. covid put all my plans for college and moving on up on hold. my anxiety and depression raised and im still trying to manage it. seeing 'i miss the pandemic/im so nostalgic for the pandemic' makes me sick to my stomach. it wasn't a fun time, and if it was you're delusional.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
it’s fucking WILD that’s it has been 4 years. It was horrible but I do miss just being able to rot in bed.
Tbh same but since I was still stuck at home where we had no money and was considerably poor, I missed out on all the fun stuff like the acnh craze.
I miss 2019 and before sometimes I just think about what the world would be like if Covid never happened. truthfully, in general, (not looking at individual peoples lives) the world has just gotten worse since then😢
@@a.h.i267same
Horrible for ones trapped in a toxic house.
Yeah now everything is worse and we have to work twice or three times as hard just to survive.
Im autistic and i was a student over Covid and i loved it so much, obviously not the pandemic itself but the lockdowns, I was living with my family, spending all day lying in the garden in the sun, making damn iced coffees, not doing any work, not having to socialise, going on daily exercise walks in nature with absolutely no one else around… I miss having time away from financial/academic duties and being able to just live and I think that’s what everyone is really having nostalgia for
You can find a remote job if you want to continue living that lifestyle. The issues with the lockdowns is the lifestyle was mandated on everyone, even for those who didn't want it (like me!).
my austism gave me the total oppoosite experience i was having daily meltdowns 😂😂
@@PASH3227 I've never had a remote job before, even though I've always wanted to. As an introvert, working from home sounds awesome. But, I don't know how to get such a job.
@@MatthewTheWandereralso one has to consider being autistic creates barriers for getting a job, especially if you live in rural areas, remote jobs are less common. I think its perfectly reasonable to miss the accommodations provided by the pandemic as disabled people when everyone else decided we don’t need them anymore.
@@Skylarkdevries1267 WTF are you talking about? I'M autistic!
ive never understood how people say nostalgia is bittersweet, to me it's gut wrenching. like even right now i can't even enjoy things fully because i know that it will be over eventually.
LITERALLY
for me it’s like, in the beginning it was gut wrenching. But overtime as I tried to look forward more and cope w it, it’s gotten more bittersweet towards only certain memories tho 😭
There are actual studies showing that while nostalgia can be harmless, even beneficial to some people, other people (such as people with high anxiety personalities) can find nostalgia very damaging. Wish I could find the studies to link to it, pretty interesting
YES. And people will say “just enjoy the moment” like ITS NOT THAT SIMPLE AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. I just want to enjoy a moment while it’s happening but I get caught up thinking about how it will be over in even a few hours.
Nostalgia for me feels super similar to deja vu but a confused panicking type 🤔
It’s so validating to hear someone else say that nostalgia physically pains them. All my life I have struggled with nostalgia being a very intense and gut wrenching emotion as well. I also think a lot of people (myself included) miss the slower pace of the pandemic. Going back to fast paced jobs, lives, etc. is jarring and I find that I yearn for the slower pace and better work life balance we found during the pandemic.
I'm still doing online school so I'm basically still living the same life as I was in quarantine
i feel this so hard. i think the slower pace of the pandemic and realizing how great not working constantly is, is what has made gen z want a different lifestyle from the standard 9-5, 40-hour work week. older generations call us lazy for it, but the way i see it, we don't want to grow into adulthood constantly stressed out and busy like they are/were.
Same I literally wish the time could pause
as a pharmacy technician, the pandemic made my job awful and miserable and people have genuinely gotten so much worse since the pandemic started
as another pharmacy technician, i can 10000% agree
worked at ups, yea idk how people can miss this time. people really got fucking crazy and work was INSANE
Worked in a pharmacy during COVID as well. It was a nightmare.
What do you think is the reason for this decline?
not a pharmacy technician, but I work customer service/with the public, and you’re 1000000000% right!
I think part of it of being nostalgic for horrible things from the past is that we're trying to escape our current anxiety and go back to an anxiety that we now know what the outcome was and that we survived it, it's like a weird sense of having some ounce of control of said anxiety
I think this is it
This actually makes sense
my brother got diagnosed with cancer literally ten days after i got home from college for the lockdown (he is now cancer free). it was awful at the time but i am so weirdly nostalgic for those times now. it’s like looking back at a “simpler time” where i felt like i had a valid excuse for feeling unwell
DUDE SAME
Wow. "A valid excuse for feeling unwell" is SUCH a good description that I've felt in for a long time, but never been able to put into words. THANK YOU
That last part is so true. My emotions felt easily justifiable back then because my dad passed from COVID-- of course I'm doing poorly, my dad is gone. It almost felt nice to have a neat answer for why I felt so horribly.
That's still a valid reason to be upset, IMHO. I hope you're feeling better, but don't guilt yourself over valid grief. ❤❤@@elizabethsullivan2965
“A valid excuse for feeling unwell” really does just capture the whole feeling, doesn’t it
Between the stimulus checks, most everyone having actual free time, and nature temporarily healing, it was truly a glimpse into how amazing life could actually be….
These are the parts I liked, but especially animals coming out more and more to reclaim their space, so cool.
Millions of people died.
This too.
They aren't saying they didn't or that bad things didn't happen. They are pointing out that because society was forced to shut down, and capitalism was forced to halt a bit, that we got to see what would be possible with more guaranteed income, free time to spend with loved ones or alone, and that nature was reclaiming things and acting differently due to the lack of human activity (especially noise pollution). And that seeing what life could be like with more stability, human interaction/connection (even online), and more natural occurrences is a beautiful thing. Of course, this was not a great time for everything or everyone (especially those with abusive households or who lost their apartments.)
Two things can be true at once. And frankly, it's sad that we had to have a giant pandemic for society to shut down enough for us to see we don't have to keep doing this grind that is killing us and the planet forever. @@KhaiNguyen-vm1et
@@KhaiNguyen-vm1etand we could have more free time more rest more relaxation be less destructive to nature and no one would have to die.
It's just not gonna happen until the world is literally forced to do it.
Which the powers that be won't force corporations and societies to make it happen.
So I don't blame people for enjoying what will probably be their only chance to ever see it happen.
Back to working ourselves to death!
The nostalgia is chronic, but Nicole is iconic
And this comment is ironic
But at least it’s not bubonic 😩
@@YOLO-yx2nz and it was delivered electronic(ally)
i hope we’re platonic
These comments are so harmonic
I felt at peace during the pandemic because it felt like everything slowed down. I could never relate to any of the people around me having a really tough time and wishing for it to end because for me everything was much simpler, people cared more, online classes were great, there was no pressure to leave the house and my mom was still alive. My needs were better met during this time. When everything started rerurning to normal I felt anxiety while others cheered.
From a neurodivergent, exhausted young adult's perspective who hasn't been able to attend offline lectures (even pre-covid) the pandemic was a blessing in disguise. Life has been worse since then.
Man it sucks that everyday life can be so awful sometimes. I honestly started liking it but then it made me upset i missed seeing people since being alone for very long makes me feel sad but hearing some have felt less pressure is really nice
@@Acorn905 I agree there's multiple sides to it! Socializing happened more online, sure, but not being able to see anyone in person does affect your mental health in a negative way in the long run. We need physical connections too!
I was an “essential worker”(Starbucks) so I have no nostalgia for the height of covid. I literally worked from like 6am to 4 or 5pm sometimes with like 2-3hr long rushes, had multiple panic attacks while dealing with entitled ass customers complaining about being stuck home, while I was “lucky to be working.” I know I shouldn’t, but I honestly envy the people who had time to themselves to work on little creative pursuits then.
Right? I didn’t know I could get unemployment so I was working at American Eagle, then a jewelry store, and then I was a Covid Safety Monitor helping bring back Broadway, where I was relentlessly harassed and called a N*zi for doing my job.
i dont think its unreasonable for you to feel envy and resentment about that
Also an essential worker (KFC) and same. Nothing changed except I didn't have to clean the tables as often since people weren't allowed to eat inside and customers were so much angrier.
I wish I could have practiced baking more lmao
Essential worker here as well. I envy them too.
Same. I quit my job right before the pandemic started (obviously didn’t know what was coming LOL) and I couldn’t start my new job, which I was so excited for, and never got to do.
Was ineligible for unemployment and so while all my friends got to stay home and buy fun things with their stimulus checks, I was barely surviving at all. I absolutely envied them for it.
After a few months I started working at a grocery store - finally having a job was a blessing but working at a grocery store during the pandemic was crazy lol
It's hard for me to feel nostalgia for a time in my life where I was worried EVERY DAY that my severely immunocompromised mother would catch covid and die. It was quite literally the most stressful point in my life, and the only part about that time that I miss is the fact that my mom was still alive. So, I feel kind of weird about hearing people say they miss that time.... 🙃
I used to always think that if I could just pause life for 1 month and focus on myself, I’d be able to catch up on so many things and officially have my shit together.
Then COVID happened and proved me wrong, because I had all the free time I could want and did nothing. So at least I can't use that excuse anymore.
Well the difference was that you weren’t able to go out and didn’t have as much freedom
Don't be so hard on yourself. There was a serious limit on what all you could do because everyone was stuck at home at the same time, too. No gyms, no fun social outings happening, jobs hiring less. its hard to get your life together when society itself is struggling to function like normal.
Same, but it's because we're exhausted... 💀
if you wanna do something, but somehow you're not able to, then it's clearly not your fault. look up executive dysfunction, its usually associated with ADHD but anyone can have some executive dysfunction sometimes, its very common in depression as well. lets normalize laziness and "not feeling like it" because its usually our brains and/or bodies telling us they have other needs that gotta me met first
You probably had so much burn out. So you couldnt actually rest and resest.
I think that as humans, we got to see how the world was when we actually had time to do more for ourselves than the bare minimum. We got to spend time with ourselves, but also we got to see how everyone was affected. It was so drastic and sudden but it felt like the whole world was connected (as it was, but in a really unfortunate way). Nature healed for a bit too. I have bad nostalgia for 2020 cause it was the first time I had so much time to myself and to think, and also the first time where I didn’t have to see people getting ahead and feeling like I’m doing nothing, even though they might be living a more privileged life than I was.
I was feeling a little guilty for thinking how nostalgic i feel about 2020 and how i got to stay home, connect with my family, and really realize what it meant to take care of myself. Yeah the pandemic was (and in ways still is) horrific and scary but it was also a wake up call.
This!! The first six months of 2020 were the happiest I’d ever been, I had a daily routine, I could take care of my grandma, get my daily exercise and cooking skills honing in, do school online, play animal crossing, and watch a little anime all in one day! After that May was when it all went downhill, but I’ve made my New Year’s resolution this year to get back to the same state of happiness during those months (ie. exercise more, gain better work life balance, cook more, make more art, etc.)
I feel this so much. the pandemic 100% improved my life and gave me the space I so desperately needed and I felt so guilty about it
@@cozycasasmr4510same 😢, I was sooo stressed out and angry with everyone while studying for the finals, but then having the break from class and meeting ppl gave my system SUCH a nice reboot, now everytime my friends talk abt how horrible it was I would feel sooo guilty that I couldnt even say anything 😭
I'm not discounting the suffering people went through, but, during the pandemic, the world slowed down, there was way less cars on the road and people lived simpler lives in general. I don't feel a shred of guilt for saying this because it's not my opinion, it's fact. I do feel nostalgic for that time and wish the world could be like that all the time (minus the virus). The problem is, you say you miss those days and people twist your words to try and make it sound like you're saying you miss the virus itself when that's not what I'm saying at all. It's like people are incapable of seeing the positives that came from that era, or perhaps they purposely don't want to because it went against their vain, superficial lifestyles. The lockdowns were the attention seeker's worst nightmare.
I’ve always felt there were two kinds of pandemic that people experienced.
I was part of the essential aka sacrificial worker group-I worked 60+ hours a week and had several family members pass away after contracting the virus. So hearing people be reminiscent of what was, to this point, the worst time in my life that I’m still trying to process is so surreal. How badly I wish I could be apart of the people whose memories of the pandemic were sitting at home and playing video games…
The comment about the praise kink from the phlebotomist reminded me of when I was getting tested for gestational diabetes, where you get multiple blood draws in a few hours, and I pointed to the “good vein” that most phlebotomists went to in the past. But he looked at me and said “oh yeah, I’m saving that for later.” Had me leaving like “sir?? What are we” at like 30 weeks pregnant
This story is hilarious to me
summer 2020 will always be bittersweet to me, i'll always think of that summer as just one big sunset.
i think another part of the nostalgia among our age group - so many people were "coming of age" in the first year of the pandemic it's compounding the nostalgia for a time many people are massively nostalgic for anyway. i turned 19 in june 2020. i was in my freshman year of undergrad, and hadn't started a Big Girl job yet (i worked in high school but mostly summers). i'm very nostalgic for that time....largely because i was an unemployed student with way less responsibility (versus now working full time and part time grad school), and i know a lot of people were in a similar situation. it's not that i miss the stress and overarching doom of the pandemic, i miss being younger and having less to do.
yeah i totally get what you mean. i was in my 1st year of uni and had a boyfriend. i would make myself cute little breakfasts before zoom lectures and then id call my boyfriend and we would go for like 5 hour walks in the countryside. plus the start of the pandemic was spring, so nature was like waking up. and every day it would get a little warmer and sunnier. and i was carefree and in love. now i can't remember the last time i went on a long walk in the countryside. and it's not even that, it's the fact that i was so young and carefree.
Starting college in fall 2020 made it so much worse, all social plans for the summer after graduating - cancelled, absolutely no help transitioning to college. I feel robbed of both a true college experience and my senior year of highschool bc we'd just finished applying to college and didn't get the chill senioritis we were promised
I’ve heard people say this but I’ve never been more lonely and distressed in my life than when everything shut down. I feel like people miss having the pressure taken off for a little bit and sharing a rare collective experience with others.
True for me the feeling that people where in this together felt amazing. Seeing a rainbow drawn on a window or families making parody songs, starting homeschoole with my mom, seeing Animal crossing grow and amoung us explode in popularity, it all felt weirdly cozy. But it alsow felt really lonely i knew others where stressed about their families and jobs and I didn't have anyone to see or anything to do it is nice to be able to see others
I love when the phlebotomist compliments the size of my veins more than I should
I have "rolling veins" so I get no compliments from them.
Phlebotomists always tell me I have tiny veins that are hard to work with. So I’m very jealous of anyone who gets compliments 😂
My veins are thin and difficultly places for blood donation lol, I get all the attention
They love how visible my main veins are.
I've had so many blood tests and every time the phlebotomists get a glimmer in their eye over the veins in my right arm. One lady even called other people over and said 'look how juicy this is.' I wish I got that compliment on my ass but I'll take the vein compliment I suppose.
As an introvert I miss the lockdown sometimes. Just sitting at home barely working, my senior year of HS was in 2020 graduated in 21 and joined the army. Went to Korea (2021-22) they had lockdowns in Korea on base so you'd basically "work from home" in the barracks chill in my room play games and watch movies and it was such a sham and a breeze. Come end of 2022 I come back to America nobody is wearing masks anymore. Work is just work no more time for shamming and relaxing. I just get that nostalgia of having an unhealthy overabundance of time to myself with no consequences.
I have so many good memories from the pandemic, but as someone from Victoria Australia that had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, those memories are well overshadowed by the endless fatigue and depression.
thats so real. also from victoria and i come from a rural town so i could probably count on one hand how many times i interacted with people face-to-face outside of my family that whole year
Yes!! The only people I ever saw in person for 4 months straight was my family and even as an introvert, I was severely craving human interaction. I can't imagine what it was like for those who were living alone
I can't remember a single good time from those years, I was young but it was still the worst time in my life ever, as a teen now, I still feel the lingering feeling of it, idk if like is gonna be the same again
The 5km radius of where we could go outside was so bad, half of mine spanned into the ocean
As a household of two essential workers, one of which is a healthcare worker, I don’t miss it at all and I am bitter towards people who do
I was 13 when the pandemic hit, I really miss those spring mornings, not caring about online school, zoom calls and Kahoot, playing the ukulele (💀), watching animal crossing videos. It was a weird time to be growing up and I feel so guilty to admit it but I am glad it happened. I didn’t care about the rest of the world, just rotting in my room. It feels so painful to know that it’s over and I won’t experience it again even though in the long term it destroyed my mental health.
I played animal jam, animal crossing with my bestie at the time and I watched amphibia and the owl house but also was going through recovery at the time because I had back surgery though I liked it because I’m an introvert but now I really have no friends lmao💀
@@Irishmando15510 I hope your recovery went well. The friends I had at the time in 2020 kinda ditched me when my mental health was too much for them in 2022 💀, I spent over a year grieving that loss and feeling resentful. Im very introverted too and it seemed scary making friends, I guess my advice is to put yourself out there and push your limits, and as long as you look sad and lonely enough someone will take pity on you lol /j
@@salty_sour2469 my best friend I had at the time recently ditched me this year💀 she moved away and we kept contact but she became toxic and rude wouldn’t accept the fact I’m neurodivergent bullied me for my intrest I blocked her because she was too much to deal with
Also her friends cyberbullied me so I blocked them lmao💀 overall making friends is hard for a neurodivergent person but I have two friends who have the same intrest and Same thing as me so that’s nice.
honestly im sorry for you guys, you should have had normal irl school life not being locked in homes
we all remember where we were that day 😢
i was in a music shop, right after my guitar lesson. was told i got 2 weeks off of school and i jumped in glee. that glee would soon fade
I was in econ when they told us we had two weeks off. We thought our teachers were going on strike
I was texting my college classmates about how class was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday...never saw any of those people again
I was at the public library with my fifth-grade class researching Marie Curie for a wax museum project. I remember saying goodbye to my teacher and her saying "See you on Monday!"
I was about to take a math test (which was very f#cking hard!!) when they all made us go home, the happiest I had been in a LONG time LOL
it’s interesting seeing the nostalgia for 2020 when covid rates are at an all time high. i get questioned so often why i still wear a mask and how i must be insecure or something cus lockdown was lifted ages ago. like i literally live with my family who are immunocompromised and i will take a covid test the second i feel ill i do not play abt that virus! i do miss having little to no responsibilities as a failing sophomore in high school but it definitely was not a good time for anyone. this winter break left me feeling so hopeless as a college student cus it genuinely felt like the lockdown era. i was home for almost two months and doing virtually nothing. feeling lost and lonely is such a horrible thing to experience again.
+ my entire family got covid in late 2020 and my little brother got it the worst it was actually so terrifying. he was vomiting, had horrible stomach pains and literally shit himself like what the fuck. my taste wasn’t the same for months and i still have breathing issues today. i was 14/15 in lockdown and i feel nostalgic over being so young but god its impossible for me to miss those times of severe isolation.
This I feel like my mental health has gotten so bad now and is so much worse than during the beginning of the pandemic. In the beginning it felt like everyone was dealing with it together but now most people are ignoring it and the burden is on the covid conscious to protect themselves. Now people value going to a concert maskless over someones life. I didn't have such fear going out in the beginning most people were wearing a mask now im the only one in most situations and the risk is so high and the COVID numbers are higher now than ever now that I dread going out. I feel even more isolated and alone now than the beginning of the pandemic.
All my pandemic "nostalgia" comes from missing the time when the majority of people actually cared and tried to protect themselves and everyone else. Back when events were more accessible and masking didn't come with the risk of harassment. I miss not feeling like I'm missing out on life.
as someone who had to go through online school...i do not miss the pandemic. i went months without brushing my teeth in the morning and never getting out of my pajamas. its so nice to just go to school and be able to be outside around people and actually having school things again.
BRUUUUUUTAL, this made me realize even more how brutal my situation is, I'm still online schooling for several reasons out of my control, I am and have been living the same exact life since the pandemic, I can't even remember the last time I've spoken to someone my age
I was homeschooled before covid and i feel the same sometimes. That feeling of "school sucks" but "i miss having a routine and more social interactions"
I was a full time service worker during the pandemic so I can hardly relate to anyone’s pandemic nostalgia. I didn’t get to sit at home and relax. I didn’t get to talk to friends and family. I was interacting with the crazed public during a worldwide pandemic. Dealing with people screaming at the top of their lungs about how either masks were good or bad every day. It was insanity.
This reminds me of how I get really nostalgic for certain aspects of my childhood, even though my upbringing was very traumatic. I look back at all the shows, games, get-togethers, sleepovers, etc, with fondness because they were the only thing bringing a teeny tiny bit of positivity into my very negative life. It makes me question my own memories, like "was my childhood really that bad?" GIRL, YES IT WAS. 😭 Your brain is just trying to cope and hide things. It's hard to explain, I dunno.
this! thank you.
i'm turning 18 this summer and the nostalgia i've been feeling since i turned 17 has been insane. I always wanted to be older ever since I was young and now I don't want to grow up and i've been feeling nostalgic for the pandemic. It was nice when I was 14 and didn't know what was coming for me in my high school years and my regrets since.
i’m turning 20 in about 2 weeks, but when i was 17 i used to get so stressed thinking about the “adult world”. i moved out and into a different city at 18, and feel a lot more relaxed about my place in the world. when you’re still in high school, it feels like everything is happening in a very linear progression. everything moves forward and you have to move with it.
you figure out once you leave and see more things and meet more people that you can pace yourself. stuff can be really hard but it’s much easier to deal with at the same time. slowly but surely you will learn how to live. you get a chance to breathe a little better in the real world - whether you’re a student or working or anything in between
i think it’s really important to hang on to older members of your community - whether that be relatives, family friends, or even slightly older friends. it’s very comforting seeing how your loved ones got through it. they were asking the same questions and feeling the same thoughts as you are now. it’s never too late to start, pause, pick up, revisit etc etc. also it’s very comforting seeing people a couple years older than you and realising they’re just as stupid lol
covid was a major reason for the development of my agoraphobia. like, i genually feel like being outside is hell and pain. (im trying to get over it) pandemic times were nostalgic, because we weren't around others, meaning - having the freedom to not be judged or bullied. imo most people are happy about being alone, but too much loneliness gets to your brain.
today i even talked about covid with my classmates, like it was so surreal - i was 14 , now im 19 .... time passes
i completely understand that - being outside can honestly feel like you're touching a live wire. it's still impacting many aspects of my life and i hope that the agoraphobia on your part eases one day and life becomes a bit fuller ❤
oh my GOODNESS. i am obsessed with your profile picture. really awesome.
@@dizzykitteh yours is sooo cute too 😭
Going outside became so hard after all the safety precautions from covid my parents had us do. For like 2 years my grades suffered bc I wouldn't use my computer at home after class bc I was too depressed to wipe it and I wouldn't go outside bc I had to change clothes before and after. And now that live on campus I still feel like I have to change my pants to sit on my dorm chair
this whole video really reminds me of the poem "nostalgia" by carol ann duffy. the word nostalgia actually means "acute homesickness" and was originally a diagnosis for homesick mercenaries who described a physical pain when remembering home.
The covid era was literally the worst time in my life and i will never look back fondly to it
Same, I get mad honestly hearing people talk about to with nostalgia. Nice to have found someone else feeling that way
@@whatcanidooo March 2020 was the first time I came out of my depression and felt like a human not because of quarantine so because of that it's something I am nostalgic for still feels so wrong to say it cause so many people suffered around the world
Yes the mental toll was terrible. Especially with everything shut down.
I want the timeline where I'm not still recovering from what 2020 did to me to this day
@@anny8720 Amen! I'm so nostalgic for my cousins who didn't have college interrupted by the pandemic!
I was an "essential worker" during the pandemic, and it was AWFUL. I was forced to deal with rude, entitled customers (one literally called me a demon for wearing a mask) and having to work from 4am and not being able to get off until 2 or 3pm. Some people would go "thank you for your service 🙏" but I was forced to continue working even though all of my coworkers had COVID and we would be fired if we called off. Also my mental health was the worst it had ever been back then. I do not miss the pandemic whatsoever and I feel jealous for everyone who took the time to play Animal Crossing and persue creative projects rather than working to pay the bills.
As an agoraphobe, i have no shame about myself for saying that I MISS QUARANTINE!! That was the best time of my life! Its crazy that the worry i felt about catching covid at the grocery store during pandemic was less than the anxiety i had about going to the grocery store pre-pandemic. It was nice to see a society more reflective of myself for once and i'm glad some things have stayed, like hybrid remote work and telehealth.
The big downside is it did make my agoraphobia worse via deconditioning...
Same!!!
also an agoraphobe, and i agree! lowkey, it was also nice to see the people who used to say to me "you're lucky, i wish i could just stay at home!" slowly realize that being at home and unable to leave when you want to actually sucks. it made them a lot more understanding lol
I can tell I became a bit more agoraphobic. Pair that with me moving to a new town. So, I’m trying to do some exposure therapy by going out without my husband to make me feel “safe”
Ur so weird
yuppp, during the pandemic i was doing basically the same thing i did before anyways, but now it was socially acceptable! was great in that aspect
I still remember grabbing a work packet from school that they said was in case we needed to work from home. That was the last day I would ever face a normal school day.
I’ve noticed that the 2-3 year mark after a year is when i will always be nostalgic for that year. Doesn’t matter how bad it really was. That’s the average time frame it takes for my memories to develop the rosey tint. Also what you’re describing is how I’ve always felt about nostalgia too. Listening to music i used to listen to or whatever. It’s never a good feeling it just makes you miss the times. But that’s normal no? Nostalgia is not a good feeling by nature. It’s a melancholic feeling. Its not nostalgia if it doesn’t also make you feel bad at least a little
thats me glorifying rotting in my room in high school even though i was genuinely planning to kms at the time and had breakdowns every single day. good times tho, apparently!!!!!
I call the pandemic nostalgia both a love and hate situation at the same time.
Pandemic nostalgia causes me physical pain but I fall down the rabbit hole every year
I have never heard someone explain nostalgia that way and I’ve been trying so hard to describe how it feels like to people. I almost teared up hearing you talk about it because I felt like I was crazy and so alone in this!!
I only miss the beginning of Covid, because my dad was alive and we all were together in the house as a happy family. He passed away on August 8, 2020. The pandemic was hell, we had a pandemic funeral and it was hell. Definitely not nostalgic. I had to decide who could come to the funeral, then who got a zoom invite to the funeral. It’s definitely left me very scarred.
How did he die?
I’ve been struggling with this kind of nostalgia these last two years and it has affected me so deeply, and made me feel so so guilty. Thank you for speaking about this, it definitely gives me a lot of comfort
You don't feel nostalgic for times or things that ended up truly harming you. We feel nostalgic for surviving successfully. My stepdad got diagnosed with cancer also in May 2020. He passed away a year later. I am nostalgic for May 2020 because I still had him in my life. I am not nostalgic for May 2021. Because it did not end well. You can be nostalgic for a difficult time that you got through successfully. You will never be nostalgic for a time that you came out of with a true loss or net negative. That's a signal from your brain reminding you to be grateful for what you still have, or have gained, currently. Go make even better memories with your mom ❤
Genuinely, thank you so much for this comment. I’m a survivor who suffers from severe C-PTSD and this past week has been exceptionally rough. This outlook shifted something within me and eased so much pain, I’m going to remember it for a very long time. Sending so much love to both you and your family🫂
Honestly, I dont understand how anyone could be nostalgic for this time. If you got to stay home and got to receive some sort of income that allowed you to stay home and not work, or if you had the opportunity to work from home, then I feel like you are one of the lucky ones. It wasnt that easy for some of us who didn’t have these options, 2020-2022 was honestly hell for me…
'how can anyone be nostalgic for that time'
*immediately lists several reasons why someone might be nostalgic for that time*
nostalgia for me is painful too. even if is is a good memory. nostalgia is a b!tch
this is so true. Before I got on RUclips this evening, I went through my Snapchat memories and I saw videos of me and my little brother from for five and six years ago back when he was small now he’s a sophomore in high school, i’m in college. 😢
I remember when I went into a place that I felt nostalgic for and when I went into my entire body felt stuck and terribly excited idk my nostalgia is like that
i am soooo disappointed in myself for not capitalizing on the indefinite free time that i had during lockdown. i was playing among us and binging americas next top model and my friend quit her job and started a successful photography business. i try to give myself grace for taking time to rest and have fun but i feel like i wasted that time when i shouldve been going after my dreams. but instead, i am stuck in a corporate dead end with no free time, energy or motivation to do the things i truly love.
This is wild, I was literally just talking to a friend about this recently. Quarantine sunk my mental health to a point that I’m still recovering, because of that I ended up burning so many bridges, and I was financially destroyed… but I miss it all the time. But then I remember, just like you said, I don’t miss the pandemic I miss having time. The innocence of quarantine. Sometimes I want to do it over because hindsight is hella 20/20. Even though I didn’t need to be, my mental illness made me feel stressed all the time. I wanna go back and properly use that time lol.
same, I feel like I "wasted" quarantine. All I did was watch youtube and got drunk... When I could have been creative and productive. I'll never get that time back... 🙃
@@modkip25 Remember how uncertain everything was at the time. There was no timeline. Schools were constantly changing their reopening dates. That's why you were unproductive.
I’m swedish so I never experienced the pandemic.
I just had to watch as everyone in other countries slowly got worse mental health, while I only had to stay 6 meters away from people when I was standing in the line for lunch at school.
It felt so weird.
Wow you were so lucky, i wonder what that was like, it was so different in America 😭
@@celunax it just felt like normal life, pretty much nothing was different
Omg seems like Sweden was the only reasonable country who didn't go through the living hell of restrictions like most of the other countries, especially Australia where you couldn't even walk outside your house 😡 You were truly blessed here in Sweden, seems like most people don't even realize that
@@rockstar78970 the covid rates were really high there eventually though
Uhhhh Sweden was literally purposefully withholding treatment for elderly people during the early portion of the pandemic because they classed them as disposable. The pandemic most definitely did and continues to happen in Sweden. The pandemic isn't over.
getting giddy over the phlebotomist complimenting your vein is so real
its so nice to hear someone talk abt nostalgia the same way i feel about it!!! nostalgia feels like a punch in the gut to me every time i experience it and i felt like i was crazy for being so stuck in this bad feeling all the time. love this video!!
i think any sort of 'nostalgia' i feel for earlier in the p4ndemic comes from people caring. now that c0vid is the worst it has ever been and very few people are still masking/up to date on v4ccines is very disheartening and i yearn for the earlier days in that respect.
THANK YOU. I’m so tired of being the only person I know who still cares. I’m still living the exact same lifestyle I was in early quarantine but I have to watch people who don’t GAF living a normal life.
THIS THIS THIS. it feels so insanely tone deaf and disrespectful for people to say they “miss” covid and they “miss” the pandemic. how do you miss something that never left?? people are fucking suffering. but 100% agree, what I miss is when people cared. At least I could pretend humans cared about each other. now it’s too obvious everyone is jumping for any opportunity to kill those in their community. I miss feeling like we were genuinely all in this together, but instead everyone was so excited to leave us all behind
@@MangoMintMickeyyes, this💔
Yes. We miss people caring.
what do you mean by covid is the worst it has ever been? i'm genuinly curious. my country lifted all lockdown restrictions long ago and i was under the impression vaccination had made it a lesser issue at this point - as in vulnerable people might still catch it, but the same way they'd catch any other disease. i just googled it and the WHO declared it's not an public health emergency anymore in 2023. i don't mean any offense, but your statement really surprised me.
10:09 so well said!! I miss it at times but im only remembering not having to work, staying up late and watching tiktoks hours on end. But in reality I wouldn’t want to go back, I was struggling with my mental health so much. I spent nights crying and my dad made it insufferable at times. Very glad im happy where i am today instead! Love the video Nicole
I think you just made me realize that I actually have the gut-wrenching nostalgia version. I'm turning 18 this year and ever since I could remember, I never thought I would actually live to see the day. Quite literally because I have always struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts and I thought I would be gone before then. But here I am, 17 and just waiting until my birthday comes along in October. And recently I've been extremely nostalgic of those times and literally breaking down into tears and feeling so helpless because I will never get to be 8 years old at disney land and getting signatures from every character with my whole family and just being so naive to the world (I am literally crying while writing this). And I've just been so upset at the world for everybody being so mean and glued to their iphones instead of going back to how it was. I feel like I'm waisting my last year to ever be a teen as each day passes by it hits me that I will never be this age ever again in my whole life.
I basically trauma dumped so my apologies for that, but thank you Nicole for making this video because I thought that nostalgia was supposed to feel gut-wrenching but apparently it feels bittersweet to people and allows them to keep going. I am trying to appreciate the moment I am currently in however it's been hitting me quite hard because 18 is a big change for me.
you will be okay, as scary as it is. Follow the things that make you feel that childlike joy again & keep at it until u find a new thing that does the same. That will make the present feel less fleeting, and time slower.
as someone who also didn’t think they’d make it past the age of 16, but has been 20 years old for 2 months, it becomes normal. i still can’t get used to the fact that i am indeed 20 because i don’t feel like what i perceive other 20 year olds to be like. but i can tell you, that you have so much more freedom and confidence in enjoying the things you actually like. my bed in my university accommodation is covered in a teddy blanket and my own plushies. i wear my cat hat with bells on the ears almost everyday. i dress however i want with less attention to what others might think of me. i indulge in “childish” interests like tinker bell or adventure time or walking through toy shops. i’m really struggling with getting over my teenage years but i need to remind myself that good days aren’t over 💖
im 25 now and i didnt think i'd make it past 18 either. time is a blur tho, i feel like i'm still 19 but at the same time i do feel way wiser now. i just know im gonna close my eyes for a second and suddenly i'll be 40
Here with you 🖤🖤 never thought I'd be 23!! You're amazing whoever you are! I bet you're killing it. I promise it'll get easier and one day you'll catch yourself planning for the future with excitement.
Im sorry you’re feeling this way rn. I also felt the same way around that point in my life which was about 2 years ago, and I feel like being in the pandemic amplified that feeling of not wanting to get older & nostalgia. Even though it is hard and easier said than done, we have to come to terms with the fact that we cannot go back to the past, but instead we can make the most of the present before it also seems to slip away from us in what seems to be a second. At 17, I spent a lot of my time overthinking about doing certain things, going out, doing things I wanted in fear of getting judged, so I strongly suggest you to pursue more of what you want to do, as small or as big as it may seem. Make the most of each day and do what makes you happy, God Bless.🙏🏼💜
I used to CRY over old pictures of my friends and I.. even if they were still in my life. Nostalgia was/is absolutely gut wrenching
the "Imagine" jumpscare
Underrated comment 😂
Had to skip past it
I think what I miss is that everyone seemed to be on a level playing field for once
STOP IVE BEEN YELLING ABOUT THE ROMANTICISATION OF QUARANTINE AND I FELT LIKE THE ONLY ONE
I can understand this stuff, and see how it makes sense to people. But as someone who worked as a nurse in a NYC hospital through most of the pandemic, it's still just hard to wrap my mind around people being like "OMG the pandemic was the BEST!"
My memories of the pandemic are more death than I ever thought I'd see professionally, families crying because they can't be with their loved ones in their final hours, and physical and emotional exhaustion. For months.
Like, I can see all the explained reasons why people are "nostalgic" for it but... it's just very hard for me to understand.
it’s a VERY privileged take to “miss” the pandemic. You aren’t crazy for thinking this is weird.
i found u during those early months of the pandemic and u seriously became my parasocial bff during those lockdown times when i couldnt see my actual friends so i will always thank u for that nicole 😭😭
I feel like, for me personally, that time is twinged with this nostalgia for a time I wasn't expected to know what the future held. We were all playing it by ear and social obligations/norms were temporarily suspended
Thanks for this great, genuinely impactful video!I guess I hadnt really unpacked that creeping feeling yet
The day lockdown started in my community was my birthday on st Patrick’s day and I went to school all dressed up only to find out over half the kids were in quarantine. I felt like I was in a dystopian zombie apocalypse and I was just trying to live in complete denial of everything that was happening and telling myself that nothing was real. My birthday has felt so weird and has given me anxiety every year since
i get this ! i have a march bday too, i had to have it on zoom and i baked my own cake and ordered an outfit off of amazon and the entire time my friendgroup just teased me and made fun of me, so now i dont really like celebrating my bday. i prefer to just do a regular get together, maybe gifts with my individual friendgroups. but this year is my sweet 16 and my mom wants to throw me a big party as she wasnt allowed to for hers, so im listening to her because she deserves that experience yk? but im so anxious about it i literally cannot sleep as i think about everything that could possibly go wrong idk maybe its normal to feel anxious abt that kind of thing but it was just so horrible
I recently found out I might have OCD and you describing your experience with going to Party City to recreate those experiences was. Oh my god. My jaw dropped, I didn't know that was OCD. I've been experiencing that since I was 10 years old. Kind of losing my mind now
I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since covid. More Happy Side NICOLE POSTED!!!
Exactly oh my god. How are we 4 years into this decade?? 2019 feels like it was yesterday. If nobody has done a study about how the pandemic affected our perception of time, they need to because it seems like such a universal experience
Dude seriously. My partner and I moved in with my parents at the very end of 2019 & good god I can't believe we're still here. I'm psychologically dying here 😭
tbh from march to about the end of july it was pure bliss for me, i finally had time to rest and be calm for once,
but winter 2020 and whole of 2021 was just sh*t it was terribly boring and depressing
yes pop off queen (i’m not even past the unskippable 15 second ads)
my granny was in the middle of her leukemia fight during the pandemic, and i was in the same boat of making sure she was okay! glad to hear your mom is cancer free 🎉
i recently was diagnosed with obsession based OCD. just wanted to say your content bringing light to how OCD actually affects people really helped me push to get diagnosed. love your videos
My lockdown experience is obviously different from other people's experiences of it but it genuinely was the best time of my life and i don't know where I would be today if it never happened and I feel guilty for actively enjoying my time during lockdown rather than struggling the same way other people did
Thank you for making this. I have been talking to my therapist about how odd I feel about nostalgia lately. My parents were better than theirs were but they honestly still sucked and I've been unpacking that for the last five years or so. I recently hit a weird revelation where I realized I was more nostalgic for the pandemic than I was for my childhood. Which made no sense. I had long covid including brain fog and my wife has asthma so we were constantly worried. I need to process this video more but this has been extremely helpful. Also as someone who does not have OCD your other videos have been informative as well. I'm older than your target demographic (30's male) but I've been really enjoying your content. The Colleen Hover summaries have actually come in handy for making small talk during work meetings. Please keep doing what you're doing and thank you.
I just turned 20 and this video came out at the exact right time bc the amount of nostalgia i feel for 2020 and 2021 is crazy. It's not just nostalgia, im mourning the fact that i will never be able to relive that part of my life
this video is actually very helpful. I’ve been struggling with feeling
nastolgic about the months in 2021 i’ve spent homeless as a result of a bad relationship. I’ve been shown a lot of kindness and felt torn over how i felt about the world around me and my own happiness back then. i knew deep inside that it was a rose-tinted glasses situation but needed to hear someone else say it to feel like it’s legit.
In 2020 CPS took me away from my abusive mother and placed me with a foster family. They were the sweetest people, lived on a 4000+ acre ranch with 2 other families on the property. I spent my time picking fruit, hanging out with the animals, swimming, playing tennis, and developing a relationship with two women who I had come to see as my family. So 2020 really was the happiest and most stable my life had ever been. That is why it does not feel bittersweet, it feels like a small death.
2019 was one of the hardest years of my life, so 2020 felt like I could finally breathe. Mainly it was the isolation that was nice but still such a tragic event for so many
Just want to note that the pandemic is still happening. Like as in, we are literally still classed as being in a pandemic, per the WHO. The emergency phase was ended last year, but not the actual pandemic. People are still dying from C0VID in significantly higher numbers than the flu, as well as being disabled in high numbers from C0VID. C0VID also damages immune systems, which is why more people are sick now more frequently. Additionally, for many high-risk people, quarantine is still happening. C0VID/the pandemic never ended.
In October, I realized that what I have been struggling with for years is OCD. It has been an extremely hard few months because of it, and I have felt so alone. No one has made me feel more seen than you did in just this one video. So, thank you for making me feel like I'm not alone in this
It’s both a traumatic and nostalgic time for me. 2020 was one of the best years of my life for the sole reason that it was before so much trauma occurred in my life. It’s funny you mention Temple U, as it’s kind of triggered me a little extra on a video I came to reminisce on the time of my life before my ex, who also attended Temple U. He was ab*sive, a r*pist, and just awful in every way, and he took away my naivety from the freshly 18y/o girl i was in March 2020. Despite my life being so much better now, I will forever miss the girl i was before meeting him on tinder in April 2020, and eventually dating him the next year. And for that reason, I think i’ll always be extra nostalgic towards the start of the pandemic. He destroyed a version of me that i miss so dearly, and despite all the work I’ve put into building a new, better life, I will continue to miss that girl who had not yet been exposed to some of the world’s worst evils.
I took care of a little boy during the Pandemic and honestly I am one of those people who are nostalgic as it was so wonderful to watch him grow up and teach him how to count and talk. ❤
This exactly, I moved in with my cousin to help look after her kids because her and her husband had to work ridiculous hours! I got to watch her oldest get ready for the 11+ and pass with flying colours, I got to do forest school with the youngest and spend hours at the park teaching the middle one to skateboard it was blissful and we went on so many adventures together in the local woods making dens and looking for insects
I think it is also worth thinking about how a lot of us young people, especially people in their early 20s like myself, have come out of the pandemic and been thrown into the Adult World which for most people is exhausting and depressing. We didn't have the proper transition from one stage of life to another because we were in this purgatory for a couple of years and so now, and the last good time we remember was being in school still and having time to have fun whle still feeling like a kid.
And I think a lot of us still feel like we are kids because of that lost time, yet the world expects us to act like real adults, move on with our lives, but we aren't prepared to yet!
At least speaking for myself, I am in my last year of university, my first year being during the height of covid and online school, and I just feel unhopeful about the future etc etc I'm sure most young people feel like this lately due to the current state of the world, and I personally have mild covid nostalgia that comes from the freedom that it brought and more so like, I want to go back so I have more time, I don't want to be an adult yet. idk
As a 42 yr old who graduated in 2006 into the recession, got fired from my first “real job “ and worked at Starbucks for a year until I was able to find another “real one,” I can tell you that you’re not alone and the time after graduating from college SUCKS AND IS SOOO HARD.
Seriously. Not just speaking for myself but my brother is 4 years older and said his early to late 20s were the hardest time of his life. You’re in the biggest transition period you’ll experience in life other than having a baby. You’re literally jumping from childhood/adolescence to THE REAL WORLD and adulthood and trying to figure out who you are, what you like, what you want to be, etc.
I felt like a child for a very long time in my adult life, I’d say into my mid 30s and even now sometimes.
There’s a misconception that we automatically begin to feel like “adults” just because our age says we are adults. But keeping your sense of childlike wonder and play is SO IMPORTANT in life. Many people lose those qualities over time but many don’t.
As an artist, I work for myself and that sense of wonder, adventure and play is integral to my success. And it’s integral to having curiosity to learn new things and laugh at yourself and evolve as a person throughout your entire life. Don’t feel like you have to have all the answers now or try to compete with where your friends and peers are. We all find our ways at different times, and your 20s are the time for experimenting and experiencing new things and figuring out what you like and where you belong!
Don’t rush the process, enjoy wherever you are at this moment, and I promise things will fall together for you in time ❤
We live in a capitalist hell scape and quarantining was like a little break
the regret for not starting things during the pandemic is so real. I got into reading again in 2022 and I always think about all the books I could have read while I was quarantining in my college dorm :/
I would argue that even tho we’re nostalgic about the positive things we remember from back then, it’s actually NEGATIVITY bias. It’s because we’re ruminating on the things we’re unhappy about right now e.g constant workload, no time for hobbies and wishing we could be in a time where we don’t have those things. It’s our brains being negative about our current situation and making it seem worse by casting a brighter light on our past. It’s the same as comparing yourself to other ppl online bcus you hate your life except it’s your own self so even more convincing. Back then we were nostalgic about pre-covid and probably in a few years we’ll be nostalgic about now even tho we’re having a horrible time in an economic recession. We always crave what we can’t have at a particular moment because we’re deeply unhappy with our lives! I don’t think it’s ’nostalgia depression’ specifically, it’s just depression and we’re stuck in a loop 😢
When you started talking about time passing by and us having no control over it…I felt it. The nostalgia for the pandemic bc at that time in March 2020 it felt like time STOOD STILL. Days lasted forever and I for once felt on the same page with everyone, no fomo no nothing. Omg now I’m gonna miss it
It's crazy how we can feel nostalgic for the worst times of our lives. The past always feels like it was better than whatever we are experiencing currently. We remember the positives, but not the negatives. Side note, the look is absolutely slaying in this video 💅
I hate nostalgia, it makes me go into an existential crisis, crying, depression, hurt, guilt. I feel it for covid as that was my young adult days, but also my childhood as I don’t remember a lot of it. I always cried myself asleep about missing or not embracing crucial moments of my life more than I should have. So looking back is a horrible feeling, I know most of the time I did nothing wrong but I’ll always feel guilty and want to go back. I completely understand how you feel and always wondered why people loved their nostalgic memories
Why did I used to cry the night after a great day thinking I should’ve enjoyed it more, or now I feel like the things I do remember like covid are only good things and I wish I was taken back.
I know I should be enjoying what I have now, I’ve built a great life, but I feel guilty for always reminiscing on good and bad things in the past
the fact that you made a video celebrating quitting your job over 4 years ago also means that i started watching your videos 4 years ago and that’s something i’m happy to be nostalgic about😇😇😇😇
the nostalgia is real, i keep looking back at highschool even tho my depression was at its peak back then
Knowing the work setup for this video makes me feel like an elite employee
I get nostalgia for the pandemic because I didn’t have work and I got to do things on my terms but then I get the gut wrenching feeling because I was the most depressed I had ever been because I had no schedule so I don’t miss it at all I just miss the freedom
i was in a deep psychosis during the entire pandemic & it made me lose every single person in my life at the time & it ended when i tried to commit suicide. i was also being abused during the time & overall it was genuinely horrible . but i look back at it as wow i was so confident & i spent so much time with my friends & bf at the time & i enjoyed becoming a diff version of myself . i look back at it constantly with nostalgia but i was SO MISERABLE . i hate covid it took everything from me . i am so much happier now but i despise covid so much
i swear i feel so seen in your videos nicole 😭 i’ve been watching you since before covid and it’s so wild looking back omg.. i also feel nostalgia very deeply and it used to be so much worse!! THANK U for talking about this, it’s kinda hard for me to remember the pandemic but i feel like this vAlIdaTEd my feelings fr… i’m glad ur doing so much better too
Thank you this cured my endless boredom
I just wrote this down in my notes app yesterday explaining how it felt like a punch to the stomach every time I felt back in that time. so happy you made a video on it
I needed this video today. As someone who sobbed the day after high school graduation because I knew it was the death of my childhood, and grew up crying because I’d never get to relive being a kid again, this is what I needed. I have never heard anyone else describe something that genuinely causes me so much pain as well as you do. Thank you for this and I’ll go enjoy my old pandemic activities today
I don't miss the pandemic. I miss telecommuting.
I miss the beautiful sky and clean air.
Mostly, I miss the illusion of everyone being on the same page (I mean, it is still weird to think about how every country had a version of lockdown).
Can I just say thank you so much for speaking on this like it helps me feel not so alone
i feel like if we are very nostalgic it's because there is not enough happening in our present. i've noticed myself, when things are dull and boring i long for a different time of happiness and being excited about something new
Nicole I don’t think you understand… I have been struggling w this so intensely and felt like no one would get it. The pain and the fact I’d never get to relive certain things and recreating feelings AHHHHH ok just thank you for this this was so so so needed
whats so sick and twisted was i watched this entire video, and once ur end card music played, i felt nostalgia for watching ur videos in quarantine 😭😭 ill have to get out of there eventually
I THOUGHT THE SAME, her outro feels so 2020 still
i graduated on my couch in 2020. i lost my great grandpa to covid and almost lost my great grandma. covid put all my plans for college and moving on up on hold. my anxiety and depression raised and im still trying to manage it. seeing 'i miss the pandemic/im so nostalgic for the pandemic' makes me sick to my stomach. it wasn't a fun time, and if it was you're delusional.