Take a Walk Down Memory Lane
Find the ways to wayback.
We’re hardly surprised at this recent Billboard study indicating over half of respondents are revisiting the television and music of their youth. And we can relate: We’re currently deep in a Seinfeld redux and can happily report it stands the test. From the return of 90s fashion (hello, normcore) to certain conceits that could never hold up today (we see you, payphone and answering machine hijinx), we’re getting our nostalgia on with some fresh rewinds for old times’ sake.
Reading rewind.
Sure, book clubs help to push us to read the latest and greatest, offering a sense of discovery with some accountability thrown in for good measure. But why not start a “book that changed my life” club? Revisiting a read that had a profound impact on your worldview, and casting yourself back to why it hit you the way it did, is even better when you share it with others. The benefits for your group will be immediate as you understand each other just a little bit better. We’ll start: Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Make a mixtape.
Was there anything more special than making or—better yet—receiving a mixtape? Beyond the nail-biting task of all that simultaneous button pushing, sharing a little bit of your soul with others and imagining how they might interpret each song was a real labor of love. We still can’t listen to the end of certain songs without immediately expecting to hear the first few notes of the next track on our favorite tapes. With Spotify on your side, it couldn’t be easier to mix away these days. One of our favorite features? The “recommended songs” corresponding with your chosen tracks. Aaaaaand, down the rabbit hole you go.
Call an audible.
Since storytelling is wired deep in our brains (like evolutionary deep), it’s no surprise that podcasts continue to catch fire. With no shortage of niche topics covered, we’ve enjoyed getting a dose of nostalgia delivered straight to our very modern airpods. Some favorites of late? KCRW’s 1980: Lost Notes which covers little known music stories; any number of the episodes of You’re Wrong About, particularly those that rewind the O.J. trial, Vanessa Williams’ story and Tipper Gore’s fight to clean up our music; and the recently launched One Year 1977.
Taste your way back.
On a vacation, one of us found ourselves in a quaint general store, which to our delight had all the candy of our youth on offer. From Mary Janes to Bit of Honeys to Sugar Daddys, we were immediately transported to scooping up all our allowance would cover. Sadly, many of these confections would tear out our very grown-up dental work today, but as the very name implies, comfort food is still a great way to catch a vibe. Whether you make a favorite childhood sandwich (cream cheese and jelly, anyone?) or simply buy a pack of HoHos (ok, might have done this more than once), tasting your way back works wonders.
Just a spritz.
While not all our smells-like-teen-spirit fragrances endure (we’re looking at you, Hawaiian Ginger and Drakkar Noir), some are timeless. We can’t smell Ralph Lauren Polo without thinking of a first boyfriend. And Dior’s Eau Savage was our unisex scent before that was even a thing. Lately, with scent tied so inextricably to memory, we find ourselves passing on new concoctions in favor of the ones we’ve always loved. So we invite you, too, to spray your way back.
