flâneur

why time felt slower when we were kids (and how to get it back)

contemplationstation.substack.com · 1,138 words · saved by 9 readers

I’ve been noticing a trend on social media, nostalgiacore. Hazy, sun-drenched photos of childhood bedrooms, the glow of a boxy TV playing Cartoon Network, the pixelated interface of an old computer game. There’s always ambient music humming softly in the background, something melancholic (like a lo-fi remix of a Nintendo soundtrack). The captions are variations of the same (aching) sentiment: Nothing will ever feel like this again. I wish I could go back. And in the comments, thousands of people with the same collective grief: This makes me cry, I miss this so much. Why does everything feel so different now? There’s something so profound about this - about the way entire generations seem to be mourning not just their childhoods, but something deeper, something harder to name. It isn’t just youth we miss. It’s something about the way the world felt. Time stretched differently then. Days were long, summers endless, and waiting for a birthday felt like an eternity. But now? We blink, and

I’ve been noticing this trend on social media called nostalgiacore. Hazy, sun-drenched photos of childhood bedrooms, the glow of a boxy TV playing Cartoon Network, the pixelated interface of an old computer game. There’s always ambient music humming softly in the background, something melancholic (like a lo-fi remix of a gaming soundtrack). The captions are variations of the same (aching) sentiment: Nothing will ever feel like this again I wish I could go back And in the comments, thousands of people with the same collective grief: This makes me cry, I miss this so much Why does…

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