Something Old, Something New

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

We live in an updated, modern society where we can obtain information at a mere touch, where solar energy is powering our buildings, and where robots are cooking our food. We are constantly being informed of new technological tools in the works that will aid us with our daily lives. Every day we are discovering new ways to embrace the future and all its modified, minimized glory.

Yet despite our evolution, why do we still love things from the past?

Image from eliteauction.com

3. Thought Provoking

The past is a time that we only know about through movies, education, stories, and many other formats. It’s a strange thing that we can’t physically visit (unless we have a Tardis or DeLorean), but only examine and wonder.  We have artifacts from the past in museums and in antique stores. While we are familiar with some of the objects’ functions, others we are not. This allows us to tap into our imaginations and question how the item worked, what it was used for, why was it used, and compare it to something we have in our modern time to help understand it better. By asking these questions we exercise our minds, attempting to discover the item’s purpose, and create a story (or many stories) for something unique and old.

2. Aesthetic

Artifacts are so different from what we have now. Today’s music players are slim and small, offering us the ability to take music with us wherever we go. In the past there were gramophones and record players and but today, they are rendered obsolete. However, we are spellbound by their rustic charm. The same goes for clothing; every day we are reinventing fashion to fit our modern tastes, but we are wonderstruck by the fictional Steampunk eras, corsets from the Victorian times, the intricate detail of the Edo era, the flashing glamour of the roaring 20s, and so many other decades.  People are even pleased over how an antique tea set appears as opposed to a modern day tea set. These items have an alluring appearance that goes against the sleek, modern aesthetic. We are drawn to these artifacts and are awed by the beauty of the past.

1. Nostalgia

But of course, we have our own past. The things we grew up with that when remembered have a sentimental feel. We still cling to these objects for the comfort they give us and to remind us of better days. There are people who use items from the past to immerse themselves in some blissful memories as opposed to using the updated version of that item (ex.: using vinyl records and record players over mp3s and ipods). We’ve even created a day of the week (Throwback Thursday (#tbt)) to celebrate toys we’ve had from the 90s, music from the 80s, and so many other things from the past that we still adore to this day.

The past is a gorgeous, mysterious thing that people attempt to understand on a day to day basis. It takes days, months, and even years to fully comprehend the past, but it only takes a mere moment to enjoy it.

Thanks for reading today’s entry. If you have any feedback or want to share it or review it, feel free to do so.

So tell me, what is a sentimental item from your past?