The Holiday Nostagia Blues

'Tis the season, truly, to deal with all the ghosts of Christmas and of life. Who knew? While I have always loved the holiday season, I've had the blues this year. They've been coming with waves of nostalgia, memories, reflection and regrets.

Anything and everything triggers the nostalgia, that bittersweet yearning for the past.
All the Christmas songs extolling this most beautiful time of the year, the sparkling lights, the smell of our tree, the taste of ginger in a Starbucks latte.

For a post for Danville Patch, where I've been guest editing, I pondered the reasons I've been so overwhelmed with thoughts about the past. It turns out, according to a "nostalgia expert" I talked to, that this kind of reminiscing and reflecting might be a good thing. Nostalgia, she says, is a way of taking stock of life. It can offer "a vision for the future."