Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is something that bothers me from time to time, and I would like to know what you think about it.
When I was about to start junior high school in 1999 - or at least the Swedish equivalent of junior high school; I was 13 years old back then - I was at a school camp where we were supposed to hang out on various activities and whatnot, and it was about 70 miles away from where I live.
It was at a ski resort during the summer, so it was quite high up in the mountains during sunny summer days.
For some reason, I have always felt a strong longing back to those days there, and it's actually much stronger even than my longing for anything else back then.
I do remember some pleasant experiences from those days there;
when we had arrived there I was checking out some cute girl who was still in one of the buses and held eye contact with her for a while until she looked curious, and then like ten minutes later she and several of her girl-friends found me in a small minigolf queue and basically flirted with me (the first line I got from them was literally "hiii cutie" followed by lots of giggling) and they insisted that I should play together with them, and after that I occasionally saw them and played arcade against them a few times (I think it was "Sega Rally Championship"), and I felt flattered by their company - it also turned out that all of them were my future classmates, and I still occasionally see them.
Other than that, I was mostly by myself, until the second evening when I decided to go to a disco, and then I noticed another cute girl there and I held eye contact with her as well while she was dancing until she looked flattered and smiled back, and I think she was the one who approached me with two of her friends shortly after that (not sure, though) and then they stood and talked to me and each other for like half an hour, and then I and another guy they had found there followed them home and we got their numbers, but I never called back for some reason.
This is pretty much what I experienced during the three days that we were there, apart from the occasional activities.
And for some reason, every time I think back on those days there I get a serious sting of nostalgia.
There have actually been times when I have become absorbed by those thoughts during the evenings for several days in a row, and started crying each time.
I have even driven there a couple times a few years ago, just to check out all the places and try to remember as much as I can.
Am I crazy, or is there any reasonable explanation for why I have such strong feelings for this specific time?
Nothing else comes close, not even my fondest memories from all the other days back then.
My guess is that maybe I feel this way because it was a new environment, and because I had several positive experiences (and several social ones) while I was there, so it might stand out for those reasons.
Also, I am nowhere near as spontaneous nowadays, and I tend to avoid eye contact with people and I definitely don't casually make flirty eye contact with girls nowadays - I just feel awkward when I do that, but apparently it used to be easy for me, and even fun and exciting.
So I probably also miss that part of myself, and remember it extra vividly from my experiences there.
Sounds a little like a co-ex (core experience) with hormones and fresh thin air contributing. Just guessing, you may have made a major life transition during that period, or something underlying the reason for the trip is still unprocessed.
I feel like one major reason could be because social interactions in general felt much more "fluid" back then.
I felt much more like "part of the group" so to speak, and felt more content with myself, and this probably also made me more approachable.
Nowadays I have developed some sort of stupid "closed" attitude, so that I avoid eye contact (except when I actually talk to someone, of course), and I don't really have casual conversations with people that much, except maybe a couple minutes - this is how I usually act at my university, and this made my classmates eventually become more and more uneasy around me until it came to a point when both they and I pretty much stopped saying hi to each other, and if I try to say hi to them then they will sometimes respond with a very silent, barely audible "hi" and nod their head a bit with a stiff expression.
I really hate that, and it definitely makes me miss those times when I had a much more casual attitude to people.
Not sure exactly why that school camp sticks out so much though, but yeah, it might be the different environment combined with a relatively large number of positive experiences during a fairly short time - I didn't really have any negative experiences when I was there, it was all positive and amazing as far as I can tell, so that place might have a bit of a magic to it for that reason.
Of course, there is also the fact that I lost contact with the girls I met at the disco (I think I have found the guy who was with us on the Internet, since his name and his appearance seem very familiar, but I'm not sure if I should write that to him), and one of the girls at the minigolf queue turned out to be interested in me a couple years later but I never responded to that either, which made her really frustrated and even mad at me for some time.
So it might have something to do with "lost opportunities" like that as well.
But I haven't completely lost contact with the girls at the minigolf queue - we live in the same village, and sometimes we see each other during "school reunions", and I get along with them quite well nowadays.
I am always tempted to bring up that school camp every time I talk to them and have a chat with them about that, maybe that's what I need to do in order to get it all out of my head.
If social interactions are a problem, you may find the equivalent of "toastmasters" or a Dale Carnegie course to make them more comfortable and improve your skills. They can be quite fun.
This is something that bothers me from time to time, and I would like to know what you think about it.
When I was about to start junior high school in 1999 - or at least the Swedish equivalent of junior high school; I was 13 years old back then - I was at a school camp where we were supposed to hang out on various activities and whatnot, and it was about 70 miles away from where I live.
It was at a ski resort during the summer, so it was quite high up in the mountains during sunny summer days.
For some reason, I have always felt a strong longing back to those days there, and it's actually much stronger even than my longing for anything else back then.
I do remember some pleasant experiences from those days there;
when we had arrived there I was checking out some cute girl who was still in one of the buses and held eye contact with her for a while until she looked curious, and then like ten minutes later she and several of her girl-friends found me in a small minigolf queue and basically flirted with me (the first line I got from them was literally "hiii cutie" followed by lots of giggling) and they insisted that I should play together with them, and after that I occasionally saw them and played arcade against them a few times (I think it was "Sega Rally Championship"), and I felt flattered by their company - it also turned out that all of them were my future classmates, and I still occasionally see them.
Other than that, I was mostly by myself, until the second evening when I decided to go to a disco, and then I noticed another cute girl there and I held eye contact with her as well while she was dancing until she looked flattered and smiled back, and I think she was the one who approached me with two of her friends shortly after that (not sure, though) and then they stood and talked to me and each other for like half an hour, and then I and another guy they had found there followed them home and we got their numbers, but I never called back for some reason.
This is pretty much what I experienced during the three days that we were there, apart from the occasional activities.
And for some reason, every time I think back on those days there I get a serious sting of nostalgia.
There have actually been times when I have become absorbed by those thoughts during the evenings for several days in a row, and started crying each time.
I have even driven there a couple times a few years ago, just to check out all the places and try to remember as much as I can.
Am I crazy, or is there any reasonable explanation for why I have such strong feelings for this specific time?
Nothing else comes close, not even my fondest memories from all the other days back then.
My guess is that maybe I feel this way because it was a new environment, and because I had several positive experiences (and several social ones) while I was there, so it might stand out for those reasons.
Also, I am nowhere near as spontaneous nowadays, and I tend to avoid eye contact with people and I definitely don't casually make flirty eye contact with girls nowadays - I just feel awkward when I do that, but apparently it used to be easy for me, and even fun and exciting.
So I probably also miss that part of myself, and remember it extra vividly from my experiences there.
If you are crazy then I am too....
Have often thought of my delightful experiences at two camps I enjoyed over the youngster years. Even go so far as to visualize my cabin, the swimming place in the river etc. and trying to remember faces and names. To this day, I love TAPS by bugle, as it was played outside my cabin every night.
For me too, these weeks of camp are among my favorite memories.
I spent 6 weeks at summer camp every year for 10 years. Of course I have brilliant memories. A child away from the forced institutions of school, church and family, discovers his or her true nature and innate gifts. This is why these experiences exist and parents pay thousands of dollars to give them to their kids.
It was a good time in your life both socially and geographically. Chalk it up to being nostalgic. The same reason people have so many fond memories of summer.
Perhaps the aging process has a lot to do with this but, in times of reverie that happen more often these days, my heart literally aches with nostalgia for certain periods of my past life and the people I shared them with who are no longer in my life. At those times I wish that I could jump into a Time Machine, travel back over the decades and relive them with those who were near and dear to me. I see myself in my youth, full of ambition, full of energy and a future life to be lived. And then I return to reality which is not necessarily bad but it in no way compares to my periods of nostalgia and the vivid memories of a life that once was.
So you see that girl occasionally in your village? And you say you get along well with her, and her friends? The camp was almost 20 years ago, so doing the math, I conclude you're about 32 now? Are you single? Is she single? Why not invite her to coffee? "For old times' sake", we say. What could be the harm?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
