I’ve Become A Nostalgia Whore
nostalgia noun; a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition
nostalgia, baby by catklein, on Flickr
One of the biggest source of inspiration I draw upon is my nostalgic personality. A natural-born writer and creative force, as a child I tried to write down daily events and happenings on a regular basis and no matter how small, or seemingly insignificant. Sadly, much of my personal written history has been lost to the ravishes of time, carelessness, or both. Indeed, much of my early playful beginnings were at one time recorded on paper in gory detail. Over the years, I’ve used my gift of writing and now more recently, photography and video as a means to hold onto precious moments before they pass.
I will, on occasion, keep relics or souvenirs from everyday life. Concert ticket stubs, ID badges from past jobs, even things I’ve found on the sidewalk like discarded notes or stray playing cards. Very rarely, if ever do I part with these items, but when I do it’s either by accident (a.k.a. carelessness) or intentionally if the artifacts are from painful or upsetting events or memories.
The artifacts I cannot part with are the ones that remind me of extra special and/or particularly memorable times in my life. When I see or hold these things in my hand, it takes me back to an earlier time as if it were a bookmark in my memories.
Examples… I still have my badge and photo ID from when I had a job in New York City / Long Island as an EMT. I probably have an old uniform from there packed with the rest of my belongings when Angie and I moved back Upstate. Along these same lines, I still have my first-issued EMT card from 1998, my first Firefighter-Basic certification, as well as my first pair of scrubs that I wore the first (and last) day I worked in an emergency room.
Up until just recently, I had notes, patient assessments, and case studies from the 2 years I was in bed school to become a Paramedic. I ran the pages one-by-one through a shredder then burned the pieces, and not because of confidentiality or fear of being sued over the mere possession of the materials.
Someday when I have the means, I’d like to put my nostalgia collection online to ensure that my collection of sorts will be immortalized through the advent of the digital era. Besides, who wouldn’t be curious to see it?
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and 
Hello there! I got here from Marti’s blog. When I read this post it also reminded me of the time when I was an EMT for a year. It was a lovely experience but now due to my career and study changes I’ve forgotten almost everything that I have learned when I was still an EMT.
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I like that you are embracing your nostalgic impulses – it sounds like it brings you happiness.
I go through periods of trying to scan everything I’ve held on to over the years, but I never seem to keep up with my rate of accumulation. Oh well
Thanks for writing this!
Here from Tanya…
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I think the reason we write is that we don’t want to lose anything and writing things down is a way of keeping them. So it fits that we also save stuff!
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Memories are the worst things to lose.
Thomas