Nostalgia

I played a lot of video games growing up.


Raise your hand if you can think of something from childhood that you did all the time. Whether it was being outside, being at a certain friend's house, or just being a crazy little kid around the house, I can guarantee that you smile when you think about it deep enough. Everyone's childhood is so much different than everyone else's, whether you think so or not. So many variables are introduced to each person's life - what their house was like, what their neighborhood was like, what their school system was like, among other things big and small. People are shaped so much by what happens to them when they are very young - and so much happens when people are very young.


Before anyone makes it to the second grade, their brain makes choices. It develops certain areas based on what it has (already) decided is important to you. For instance, a baby that grew up constantly listening to music will likely want to have music in their life at all times when they're older. Likewise, children that did not listen to much music as an infant would subsequently not feel as inclined to listen to music as adults. Sure, there are exceptions. I'm not trying to argue that every person deprived of music as a kid will never be interested in hearing a song in their future. But the correlation is there - and it helps shape the personalities of the people on this planet.


My brother is about a year and a half older than me. When he was around 6 or so, my parents bought a Nintendo 64 video game system right around its release. Being 4 and a half, I was probably not quite at the age of fully understanding what to do in games like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda. These games relied heavily on the intuition of the player, and were really more oriented towards an age group a bit older than I was at the time. But I didn't care. I watched my brother play all the time. I bugged him to teach me how to use the controller and play the games. Anyone else that had the interest that I did in video games would have done the same to their siblings about whatever it is they were interested in. I just wanted to play. My brain was slowly orienting itself towards technology, which is still a big part of my life today. I use the computer all the time, read up on newly developed gadgets, and I still play some games when I can.


A couple of days ago, I downloaded Star Fox 64 on my computer. This was one of my favorite games as a kid, easily. A quick summary of what the game is: You play as a pilot in a spaceship, and the goal was to defeat enemies in order to save a planet that is under attack. There were different paths that you could take in the game based on what you accomplished on each stage. For example, if you keep all of your teammates alive, they will show you secret passageways that lead you to different areas, and thus new levels. So, after downloading it, I played through the game three times (it's about 7 or 8 levels long in whatever series of levels you choose) so I could visit each and every level. I remembered pretty much everything about each one. All of the bosses, all of the lines that your teammates say throughout them, and especially the music and sound effects. Remembering so much of the game both shocks me and doesn't at the same time. Sure, knowing so much about some video game might seem strange, but it was one of my favorites. I played it a lot. I remembered all of those cool things now because I was so interested in them as a kid. Everyone will remember the same amount of detail in whatever they did as a kid as I do in this game. It's the way nostalgia works. You find something fun, hold it close to you, then reminisce about its... awesomeness.


Look back on some of the things that you used to do when you were little. Go and do them again. They will be just as satisfying as when you used to do them all the time.  Have your kids get into different hobbies so that they can do the same when they grow up. Think about who you are right now, and what you did as a child that brought you there. Everyone is made up of so many completely different memories, and yours are just as special as anyone else's. Nostalgia is a powerful feeling, and its so easy to create it for yourself. Share it with others that grew up with the same things that you did. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few more games that I want to go play...