Type and Reminising

[sammy]

Actually I know an ISTJ who gets nostalgic for things he doesn't even remember or wasn't alive for. It's quite bizarre... he was born in the mid-60's so he was too young to really remember or participate in the hippie movements and by the time he was at college it was late 70's, early 80's punk time. But he has this graet fondness for music of the 50's and 60's and seems to index and interpolate and entire identity and mindset that he associates with that music so that if he hears the intro to say, "Put A Spell On You" by Nina Simone, he writhes and sighs in his chair in an apparent ecstacy of imaginary remembrance of all the things he associates with it, re-associating himself with those things and revelling in it.

It's really quite curious.

haha, that reminds me of my ENFP cousin. She gets nostalgic for 60's and 70's music and culture which she was not alive for either, though she often wishes she had been. She was born in 1984.

I am an ambiguous type and very keen to nostalgic-yze most things about my life, yes even the moments when things were down. I like to think I do this because it puts my present and future into perspective --I gain more hope and a sense of peace because I know I have already "been through worse before" and things have a way of "getting better" (which induces me to go into nostalgia-mode about the happy times in life).

I'm often hit with nostalgia at the most random moments, often sparked by a song clip, passing by a certain street, seeing how birds interact with each other in nature, really... anything triggers it!

 

[Mort Belfry]

This question is triggered by a reuinon of sorts that I had recently with some of my close childhood friends. We decided to revisit the old school we used to go to late one night to see if it had changed at all. To me it was very powerful experience, as when I got there I could see vivid memories myself all over the place doing different things, playing games, injuring knees etc. I shared these with my friends who had a mixed reception to my reminising. My closest friend, oddly enough "tested" as a ESTJ (weak S) joined in, along with an ESTP (possible F). Whereas another friend an ISTJ saw this reminising as a pointless exercise, and the others (ISTP's) seemed quite indifferent.

I would have thought reminiscing would be the domain of Si, but maybe your ISTJ has such highly defined Si, that they don't need to be in the physical presence of their past to feel it.

Myself, when I try to visit old haunts and expect some feeling of the lost long ago, I find myself dissapointed. But I can reminisce just by thinking of old times without having to be in the vicinity of my memories. Maybe Si just doesn't need an external source to reminisce.

 

[Athenian200]

I don't really reminisce much with other people, but more when I'm alone. Occasionally I just notice something around me, and link it with something in the past... when that happens, it brings back some of the context and ways of seeing things I had in the past. Sometimes even odd, meaningless details like how I used to enter a command in an old DOS program, or the layout of a room I haven't seen in several years. One of the most common ones is noting how logos on products have changed (for the worse, they're all tending towards these ugly, round, messy/incomplete swirl shapes), or how the Texaco down the street got turned into a dry cleaner several years back, and yet I keep half-expecting to see that Texaco for some reason whenever I pass by.

Occasionally an emotionally charged memory comes back, mainly they're of things I said as a child that I would be ashamed of now, and they create a wrenching feeling in my gut, and I wonder why I said such a dumb thing and what people must have thought (even though I was only 7 or so when I said it). Luckily for me, most of the people that knew me as a child aren't really in touch with me anymore to embarrass me by bringing up such things. (yes, I'm really that self-conscious.)

Reminiscing is really something I'd be uncomfortable doing much with other people... I'd rather just talk about what's been going on recently, or else talk about a particular subject that interests the person.

 

[substitute]

I just realized I get nostalgic I suppose, for the Middle Ages. I could talk about the culture and historical figures and events forever, with a rosy glow of adoration the whole time. So I'm no different than the ISTJ I mentioned earlier I guess

 

["?"]

In reviewing responses and referring to types, it's interesting that intuitives claim recall more than Se types. This should lay to rest that all sensors use Si/Se and intuitives Ni/Ne

My recall (Si) is short, which makes me realize that I live in the present more than I like to admit. Once the present is gone, it's the past and the further it becomes the past, the more I can only recall bits and pieces. Similar to Athenian's post about recalling within , I think about the future (Ni) in the same capacity. When I get around others who are recalling the past, I can only recall key points.