the pursuit of nostalgia vs. living in the present 6 6

[paqart]

On 8/9/2023 at 3:25 PM, COI said:

I don't think this thread went off the tracks at all. The question posed in the original post was about balance.

The problem with this is that eating a good burger or getting laid CAN be negative if burgers and sex become a crutch you rely on to get through the day. That's imbalance.

This will be a problem for some people and not for others. Nostalgia is not all positive; it is bitter-sweet by definition, and for some it's more bitter than sweet. 

In my case, I had a very interesting childhood that allowed me a grand total of two years to assemble a fabulous collection between 1977-1979. I put all of my waking efforts into the collection, and was rewarded with the acquisition of a few thousand comics that any modern collector would drool over.Then, I was forced to sell it at the age of fourteen, so I could pay for a family move to Las Vegas, just a year before I was scheduled to be kicked out on the street. Ever since then, not for nostalgia, but to be cured of the sense of injustice I have carried with me since then, I have tried to rebuild the collection. 
When I recover comics from the collection, that's when I feel the nostalgia, and remember the good times I had locating and bargaining for the comics. My biggest disappointment is that most of the comics I get today are in worse condition than the ones I had originally. The better grades of some of those, like my 7.5 or so Action #25, are prohibitive today. The other problem is that I rarely look inside the comics to read them, thanks to my eyesight. I can enjoy the covers from three or four feet away, but the stories are uncomfortable, even with glasses. Of the ones I have read, the only stories that hold up are the Barks ducks, Eisner's Spirit, and Silver Age DCs, which are funnier and more imaginative than I remember. The Marvels, except a special few, are in most cases much less interesting than I thought as a kid.

A few years ago, I made my own tribute covers to the first half dozen comics I owned (I became a comic book artist when I got older). You can see them here.

[ageofsilver]

Nice work Andrew  

[Images and Words]

On 8/7/2023 at 1:08 AM, factory sealed said:

I have friends that have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on vintage comics or toys all in the pursuit to experience or relive moments that have been permanently lost in time.

Admittedly I will say unequivocally my "best" days are behind me and everyone from their own respective generation will have their particular specific favorites. I feel very fortunate to have grown up between the 70s/80s. What an incredible time period this was ranging from comics, cartoons, music, non-sports trading cards, movies, toys, and video games.  

That immense and incredible build up of anticipation before holidays and birthdays or riding your bike to a 7-11 in hopes that the new comic issues had been put out on the rack or walking into an arcade to hear that loud thunderous echoing of five different Defender and Centipede machines being played simultaneously etc.

These core memories and moments are so very special to all of us. I am just curious; especially for folks with OCD type personalities such as myself, how do you balance your own pursuits of nostalgic bliss and collecting goals vs. an appreciation for living and enjoying in the present moment. 

Nice thread. With me I certainly relish the best moments of the past but make a conscious effort not to fall for the trap of living there as one risks idealizing it at the expense of the present. It's tempting to do that as the past is so much better. One has to remember the attributes of the present and appreciate them (the best are great) to maintain a perfect balance.

[Poekaymon]

I thought this was a super goofy thread, with a silly premise, but it seems to have struck a cord with people, so obviously I was wrong.  I will say I don't get it though.  Why does it have to be a line between nostalgia and "living in the present"--with a bright line one "versus" the other?  I collect mostly things from my childhood, but it's my present too.  My Dark Knight Returns statue was just produced last year, and I look at it every day here in the present.  My memories of that are now both reading DKR for the first time in the 80s, plus putting it up in a new display case last year.  If I prefer Peter Parker over Miles Morales, does that mean I'm living in the past?  For me it's more of a combination of nostalgia and the present than one "vs" the other.  Although I mostly collect older stuff, I do like some recent stuff--music, characters, movies, etc.--and it all just gels together.  Collect the stuff / listen to the music / watch the movies that you like--I wouldn't worry at all about whether it's past or present.