• Elicit

I seem to experience intense feelings of nostalgia rather frequently in my everyday life. It’s brought on by the simplest or mundane of things, like the way the sun hits the top of conifers in the morning or evening, the trilling of a bird in the distance during certain seasons or weather conditions, the way a wall clock ticks away steadily in the stillness of my home (especially when accompanied by motes of dust in the sunlight), or the smell of a running air conditioner.

These moments illicit elicit both mysterious and beautiful emotions, but are hurled at me constantly. While I enjoy the feelings they give me, I seem to experience them far more often than I think most would consider normal. I don’t know if there is a term for this sense of hyper-nostalgia, or what (if anything) it’s indicative of. Most of it is tied to insignificant moments from my childhood, like lying in the melting snow on a Spring day (the trilling bird), or sitting bored in the car waiting on my mother (the sun on conifers), but a lot of it is more ambiguous.

So I thought it would be fun to ask other people what their strongest (and perhaps recurring) moments of nostalgia are triggered and/or tied to. What are some of yours?

  • CanadaPlus@futurology.todayEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Really bland architecture, people milling around in the sun. It describes a lot of good days in my childhood, I think.

  • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    Diesel exhaust makes me horny.

    I was in marching band, and would sit in the back of the bus fooling around with my girlfriend after games and competitions.

    So now whenever I smell diesel exhaust it gives me a nostalgic chub.

  • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    2·
    1 year ago

    I don’t mean to be pedantic, but just so you know: illicit refers to things which are taboo, illegal, or frowned upon. I think you mean elicit which is to evoke a feeling

    For me, it’s the sound of heavy rain on the roof. Grandma’s house had a tin roof, and we lived in a climate where it rained all the time. The rain hitting a metal roof makes a distinctive sound that I had forgotten about for many many years until I moved into my own place and replaced the roof with steel. It’s just so soothing knowing the world’s having a fit, but you’re safe and cozy in your home

  • Trollivier@sh.itjust.works
    1·
    1 year ago

    Whenever I eat at a restaurant and they have strawberry rhubarb pie in the menu, I gotta take a slice. Takes me right back in time to my grandmother.