Do you have a nostalgia box?

TisDoney

What's in yours? I have photos, movie stubs, receipts, passes, tickets, love letters, break up letters... other strange stuff. I actually started hiding them in used bookstores. Powells Books in Portland, OR was one of them.

I ended up putting new letters behind books that my girlfriend would have liked. She found all but 1 using my pictures as a reference. I think someone else found it before she did. Bastards lol. I hope it brings you value at least, for real tho.

I had gone the day before my date with her, with my roommate. Funny guy! Like... you should see his stand up. Currently he only does random kidnappings as how you see him, but treat him well! Haha. He means a lot to me.

Me and him actually hid my old love letters and breakup letters. That was super fun trying to be slick hiding them in the stacks. Oh but it was liberating. It's like art to me.

When my girlfriend and I were looking for the letters I left her, we also hid old postcards I've recieved.

Wonder if people have already found them.

Pining for the past isn't a pastime of mine, so... no. I don't have a nostalgia box.

That painful longing for a place and time you can never return to doesn't seem particularly enjoyable, so I can understand why you would want to empty your nostalgia box. I don't know why you'd do it all over some poor person's business, much less go back later and try to find it all again—but humans often do things I don't understand.

A friend you only see when he's randomly kidnapping you sounds interesting. I think I'd rather be that guy than be friends with him, though. Randomly kidnapping people sounds fun! Being randomly kidnapped... less so.

Anyway. I don't think I'll be hiding anything I value in a store any time soon. Seems thoughtless.

hogboblin

I don’t have a nostalgia box. I’m not a very sentimental person, and so I don’t keep personal letters, notes, etc.

Some pieces of media inspire nostalgic feelings in me. Nihil, by KMFDM; “One Perfect Sunrise”, by Orbital; The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories, by Lovecraft, and a few others. But those nostalgic feelings are usually separate from personal experiences. My introduction to cosmicism through Lovecraft’s writings is an exception.

UKGuy

The most common thing i"ve found in a book at the thrift store is the actual receipt for the book. I've also found a plane ticket and a shopping list, but never a love letter. As for nostalgia items, I've kept several letters from my now deceased parents and I have lots of cards my kids gave me when they were little. The largest nostalgia item I have is a floor lamp with a pink glass shade. It's from the apartment of a dear friend who commited suicide years ago.

ColouredCrayons

Yep lots of nostalgia stuff. I decorate my house with them and try to use the functional bits whenever I can. It makes visiting my home an exciting experience because everything has a story even if it isn't very interesting. For stuff that doesn't hold value for me I usually send it along with someone else who wants it more than I do. Maybe it will be nostalgic for them. I don't pine for the past but I like to remember that I wouldn't be where I am without the love and support of everyone in my life.

cease2exist

I've got two boxes, mostly containing things I made as a child, as well as ticket stubs and other stuff I wanted an icon to hold onto the memory of. I have one for my daughter, too, which has become even more important to me since I'm getting divorced, so she doesn't forget daddy was the best.

TouchIsTLC

@TisDoney That is awesome! I will agree to disagree with @DarrenWalker and used book stores are perfect for something like this, I think people in used book stores are the type that would enjoy and live a little vicariously through the letters and whatnot that they find, kind of like the "messages in a bottle" of old. I don't see the harm in this, not do I think it puts anyone out - shopkeeper or purchaser of book with a hidden gift. Maybe it's just the dreamer and hopeless romantic in me that thinks this is a fun and creative way of putting a smile on someone else's face - a new form of paying it forward and touching others in the world through entirely random means.

I also think that Doney and I share a lot of crazy fun thoughts about the world, people, adventure and see things differently than a lot of others, so here's to us and being weird and unique and reveling in it! Happy travels Doney!!!! I would love to happen upon some letter or postcard from some other traveling soul in the universe. Kudos to you!

(EDIT: grammar and spelling typos)

cuddlerforu24

For the used bookstore folks ... I’m looking for a first printing “Electric Kool-aid Acid Test”, by Tom Wolfe . If you happen to come across one send me a message thanks

UKGuy

You guys that like to dispose of or find love letters should check out a movie called "The Love Letter". It was on TV here last night. It's from 1999 and has Kate Capshaw, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Everett Scott, and Tom Selleck.

Davy75

Haha - yep, only my nostalgia box is a carrier bag in the roofspace

Im all about clearing out old junk, but never throw away your old love letters - they may make your toes curl in your boots, but its good for the soul to remember the you that you used to be and smile

AllyanaElsewood

Not really, My nostalgia box is my brain.
The only things I really care about, are things of use.
Sacrifice everything to the dream is my motto.
Going to be doing another big discard soon.
If I don't need it, it's dead weight.

tallteddy

My nostalgia box? Do you mean my apartment?

mickcuddle

No nostalgia box, but a few drawers stuffed with things I haven’t looked at in ages.

TisDoney

I LOVE THESE STORIES!!!

You guys are all so amazing!

I really love hearing these stories! Did I mention I love them...

Lol.

This is a rad community we have here.

Mailleweaver

I occasionally look back through a notebook that I've used for my very personal writing for the past several years. It still contains the rough drafts of love letters and my very rare journal writings.

Besides the notebook there is an item I might run into anywhere that draws out nostalgia: jingle bells (actual bells, not the song.) I've had one girlfriend in my life, and I still love her dearly though she left me years ago. After we dated for a couple of months we attended a Christmas party with our church group for which she tied jingle bells in her hair with ribbons woven into her braid. That evening was when my budding love for her opened into full bloom, and now every time I hear jingle bells I remember that party and its feelings, and it causes such a sweet heartache that I hope I never lose it. It used to cause me tears of joy for finally finding a mutual love; these days it's a grateful ache for remembrance of that joy.

I also get much the same feeling from using the skillet she gave me as an Easter "basket" one year. I used to use it all the time to cook us breakfast. I don't cook nearly as much since she left me, but whenever I do pull it out for some bacon I spend the cooking time remembering and missing those mornings with her. There's so much I miss about the few years we spent together. Now that I'm alone again, living in hiraeth, I can't find motivation to do much besides work and sleep.

Following : )