From “The Laws of Human Nature” by Robert Greene:
Most of us remember a golden time of play and excitement. As we get older, it becomes even more golden in our memory. Of course, we conveniently forget the anxieties, insecurities, and hurts that plagued us in childhood and more than likely consumed more of our mental space than the fleeting pleasures we remember.
Journaling is great for remembering that it wasn’t perfect. These days I do try to skew toward positive things happen when I’m journaling. But it’s not as highlight reel-y as a social media feed.
Sometimes I’ll flip back through old notebooks. (Usually when I’m supposed to be decluttering or something.) It’s not so much that I see either flawlessly happy periods or any dark nights of the soul.
Instead, and I’ve heard this isn’t uncommon so I don’t kick myself too much for this anymore, I see that I’m worried about a lot of the same things I still worry about today. How I’ll finally lose 10 pounds. I’ll finally focus on a side project. Maybe this time.
Or I’ll see some work thing that doesn’t matter at all years later. It’s at least a good reminder that any single specific work thing today won’t matter in the long run.
Some things really turn golden over time that weren’t golden at all in the first place. When I moved to New York, for 5 weeks I hopped from Airbnb to Airbnb to Airbnb to Craigslist sublet to finally a formal sublet. This wasn’t squalor, but it was one of the most stressful periods in my life.
Now all I remember is the excitement.