Sitting around a round table reminiscing with friends and family is something we’re all familiar with. We’ve all had that nostalgic, sentimental longing for our past and we enjoy it better with people who’ve gone through similar circumstances.
Nostalgia is a highly social emotion, it is our self-identity over time, we compare our past to the way we feel today, and as bitter-sweet, as that is, it is one of our better emotions. It serves as an anchor during change and transformation, helping us to keep our ground and accept it. Nostalgia also gives us an opportunity to manifest who we want to be in the future.
As Indians living abroad, we hanker to find a familiar face, someone from home, school, or college with similar escapades as our own.
Here are a few ways you can connect with people who have similar interests and stories:
Meet new people
That’s right, you never know when you can find someone with a great personality and relatable stories to share. Go out, push yourself to communicate with everybody around. The best way to find new people with similar backgrounds is to participate in activities that thrill you and definitely join more group activities. You’ll find that people with similar hobbies also end up have very similar lifestyles and experiences.
Trust your instincts
“Cast in the same mold, on the same wavelength.” research at The Journal Nature Communications, shows that social ties are built at a higher-than-expected rate between individuals of the same age, gender, ethnicity, and other demographic categories.
So, when you feel like there’s a spark go and make that first move or conversation. You don’t have to jump in head first, but you can take the first step and trust the people you feel a pull towards.
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Social media
Social media is one of the most obvious and easiest ways to virtually connect with people and share memories by posting pictures as a flash from the past. It also serves as a great platform to find people with parallel backgrounds. Go through archives of photo albums over a video call just like those round table conversations with pakodas and other namkeens.
Reminisce over the good old days, when you’re feeling low or just need to deal with changes happening in your life. Nostalgia is what binds us to most people in life, right from our parents, siblings to our colleagues and friends.
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