Dionne Wong - Week 14 - Nostalgia of the Present
In my eighth-grade band class, my friends and I played a piece called “Nostalgia.” It sounds really nice when you listen to it from a professional recording (I’d highly recommend listening to it a little if you’re interested), but to my younger self, nothing could compare to how majestic it sounded when I was sitting amidst and playing along with its performers—untrained, amateur, nearly tone deaf, dedicated middle-school musicians.
At the time, I had just gotten back from online school and wasn’t really used to in-person playing, so I had not been exposed to a lot of traditional concert music arrangements yet. Thus, “Nostalgia” was one of the main pieces that showed me how beautiful music could sound with so many different instruments included and so many musicians acting on the same wavelength. It is now a composition that I will always remember playing, the first of many others that hold personal sentimental value to come.
The ironic thing about the piece is that when I played it in middle school, throughout countless unserious and serious sixth period rehearsals, my younger self experienced a vague, prescient feeling: that the memories I held associated with the song would be those I would reminisce about in upcoming years. In other words, the song didn’t actually bring me nostalgia when I played it but the feeling that I would experience nostalgia about those times.
I was right. As a high school student now who has seen any and every version of Band and its accompanying music programs at American during some of its lowest and highest points, I’ve learned so much about what all started as an eighth-grade elective class, and I find myself looking back on the wholesome memories I lived through in that class as a naïve but passionate young instrumentalist.
What playing this piece expressed to me, though, was that it was possible for me to feel nostalgic about a moment even while you’re still living in the moment. This feeling could have been merely a version of gratitude I felt for being able to be there, or a bittersweet sorrow expressing how sad I’ll feel when the moment is gone, or something else entirely. But whatever it is, these intuitive snapshots of my life have served as memorable checkpoints for me to look back on. I try my best to fill my life with this feeling, whether it appears through last days before school breaks, first times encountering something intriguing in my studies, or simply sporadic points in my everyday routine.
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Hey Dionne! I loved how sweet and sentimental your blog was this week! You did an amazing job of describing your vivid memories from middle school!
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to Nostalgia (as per your recommendation), I can definitely understand what you meant by that it creates present nostalgia. On the topic of memories, I agree with you about how sad it can be to look back on memories and wish you could relive them over and over, but your point about just trying to fill your life with memorable moments to look back on is such a great point! I believe that everyone should try their best to build their present based on the happiness of their future self. Similarly, I also think it's funny when sometimes we can notice how significant moments may be in the future just by our present feelings!
Your eighth grade experience really stood out to me because I have always wanted to be truly passionate in a particular subject, so I loved hearing about your description of how you fell in love with music. Thank you for sharing, Dionne!
Hi Dionne! I really enjoyed reading your post, and your writing had such a thoughtful, nostalgic tone that really resonated with me. I loved how you described the idea of feeling nostalgic for a moment while you're still in it. That’s such a deep emotion, and you captured it so well. Your story about playing “Nostalgia” in eighth grade reminded me of how certain memories stick with us, even from the most unexpected moments. It’s so special how that one piece of music helped spark your love for band and created a lasting memory. Thank you for sharing your experience—it made me reflect on my own moments that felt ordinary at the time but now feel really meaningful.
ReplyDeleteHello Dionne! I found your Blog extremely important. I personally believe that it is quite cool that nostalgia has a really big impact on the way we interact with other individuals on a day-to-day basis as well. I feel like nostalgia is something that all people in the world face when they constantly miss things and also are in need of something. For example, I know I have experienced nostalgia when working with other people and organizations because it reminds me of good times I have had in the past. Also, something that has given me nostalgia is music. I feel like old music is something that is really cool and also played an impact in everyone person's lives as they grow older. I really think nostalgia is cool and a weird phenomenon that individual face.
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