2019 is coming to an end and with it the 2010 decade is too.

Over the past ten years, our lives have changed significantly. Back in 2010 when we were in elementary school, we faced daily challenges like tying our shoes,counting to 50, and trying to find our parents in the grocery store.

Now as the decade comes to
a close, Instagram and Twitter are flooded with nostalgia posts. Videos that have mashups of songs, clips from shows we watched on Disney or Nickelodeon, or objects from 2010-2019 are unavoidable in our feeds. I understand it’s sad to say goodbye to this decade, because as we say goodbye to the 10s we leave our childhood with it.

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, can be such a fun feeling. Trust me, memory lane is probably my favorite place. It can be so entertaining and somewhat therapeutic to go through old photos or clean out your room and find your Nintendo DS.

It reminds us of a happier and blissful time. A time when maybe life was simpler and more straight forward.

Looking back, we have been through a lot in these ten years. In the Obama presidency alone we faced the Boston bombings of 2010,

the Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2013, in 2015 same-sex marriage became legal, and the Pulse nightclub shooting occured in 2016.

During the Trump era, many aspects of daily life have changed. The way we take in news and information completely changed due to the rise in ‘fake news’. Twitter became a place for more than just memes, now it is how typical Americans get news from the president.

And now in 2019, we remember the good parts of this decade. Memes like annoying orange from 2011,
the dress of 2015, and of course Harambe in 2016, made us the people we are today. This is what our nostalgia looks like.

But I think there is a big difference between healthy and unhealthy nostalgia. Healthy nostalgia can be a good thing, it allows us to remember the good things and reflect on our part. Unhealthy nostalgia is when we get stuck in the past and start to make something seem better than it actually was.

Don’t get me wrong, the 2010s were definitely fun for me. How could they not be? I would kill to be 10 again where the hardest decision I had to make is what show to watch after school. I don’t want to feel forced nostalgia.

I understand with this nostalgia comes some fear because change isn’t always easy. Some may feel nervous about 2020 and with good reason. Think about what life was like 10 years ago and now imagining how different life will be 10 years in

the future can seem very unclear. If you are nervous, just think

about the people in 1999. People genuinely thought the world was gonna end. At least we know, knock on wood, that once the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31 the world won’t end. Fingers crossed.

To me this nostalgia concept
is odd. Here we are 16-18 years old living with this longing. It creeps me out I’m not gonna lie. Why do we obsess over the past like this?

I mean sure its sad, we are about to hit adulthood as the decade changes. But why are we making this a sad thing? Personally I feel like this calls for a celebration.

Think of all that can occur over the next ten years. We have the whole world ahead of us. We have the perfect opportunity to go off and do something that we are passionate about. Come 2020 we get to live the lives we have always dreamed of.

Yet we would rather sit in our self-made sad nostalgia.

I know that my view on nostalgia isn’t popular, and I understand why. But I just want to remind you that we have many more decades to come so let’s not get caught up in this one.

When we dwell on the past
we forget to focus on the present. Although that sounds cheesy, its important to remember. Right now you miss what it was like to be a kid, but ten years from now we will miss what it was like to be a teenager. So focus on the time we have now, and the future we have ahead of us.

Let’s make it the roaring 20s all over again.