This is one brilliant thinker! There’s a Russian saying about nostalgia: “The past is more unpredictable than the future.” It’s so common for people’s memories about a time to become disconnected from how they actually felt at the time. I have a theory for why this happens: When studying history, you know how the story ends, which makes it impossible to imagine what people were thinking or feeling in the past. When thinking about our own lives, we don’t remember how we actually felt in the past; We remember how we think we should have felt, given what we know today. I remember myself as being happier than I was because today, looking back, I know that most of the things I was worried about never happened. I didn’t get laid off, the career turned out fine, the relationships endured. I slayed some demons. Even the things that were hard and didn’t end up like I wanted, I got over. I know that now. But I didn’t know that at the time. So when I look back, I see a kid who had nothing to worry about. Even if, at the time, all I did was worry. It’s hard to remember how you felt when you know how the story ends. https://lnkd.in/eMp6_q39