Lions on the beach
Last Updated on: October 26, 2025
Nostalgia is a strong and elusive emotion. It can be enjoyable, and it can be addictive. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable and brings a sense of regret or loss.
At the right time, with the right mood, this can all come together in bittersweet indulgence.
In one of my favourite books, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway, there is a passage that I felt before I understood. It evokes a nostalgia for something that I connected with deeply even though the memory is not mine.
The book gives a brief glimpse into the the old fishermans past through his dreams “… of Africa when he was a boy and the long golden beaches and the white beaches… and the high capes and the great brown mountains. He lived along that coast now every night and in his dreams he heard the surf roar.”
As with all nostalgia, there is something special and unique that brings it to life in a way that can’t be pinned down. This is captured beautifully when we discover the old man “… only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy.”
Yet however beautiful these descriptions are, the nostalgia is not in those details. It can be found somewhere in the feelings you had at the time. The memory takes you back to something you can feel more than you can describe.
You don’t know when you are brewing nostalgia. It’s an interesting moment that sticks in the memory and freeze-frames the good emotions, the mood, and a feeling of who you were at the time. Recalling the memory brings it all back.
We can get carried away. When we look at the world with “Rose-tinted glasses” we can miss what’s beautiful about this moment. In time, today will become a nostalgia if you are open to it.
Looking back, feeling our memories, and appreciating what has happened can be positive. It can also trap us in the past… so instead of getting stuck in what once was, I try to use it to find inspiration for the future and appreciation of the present.
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