Retrospective Nostalgia

Posted by Unknown On Wednesday, May 30, 2012 4 comments
Thanks to readers Shadower, Cin2Tan and Pastor David TC Loo, I have been engrossed in listening to oldies and recording impromptu jam sessions this morning and yesterday evening. Music is in my heart, soul and spirit and I am so glad my boys have been blessed with this gift.

The past few weeks have surely been the most enlightening ones in my entire life. And with all the drama and suspense, I lost a lot of weight despite eating a lot. At this point of my life, I can finally say I have been enlightened and my perspectives in life realigned. To all who wrote to me, I have yet to reply and I am so sorry for my tardiness. It is not that you are not important but it is because I have been doing a lot of soul searching and rested in solitude after doing tons of spring-cleaning.

I find house-work, especially spring-cleaning, to be a very therapeutic process.

To put it simply, when spring-cleaning, one may suddenly realize that something kept for decades actually has no value and one may wonder - why the heck did I keep it? It could be for a few insignificant reasons which were probably significant at the point of decision-making.

You cannot imagine the amount of rubbish I have been clearing out from cabinets and drawers in my house.

I am a hoarder. I even have paper bags from the 1960's. I discovered that I can actually have a garage sale of:
  • vintage paper bags from the 1960's especially those brown paper bags with white and red rope handles
  • vintage plastic bags from the 1970's of shops which do not exist any more, emporiums that only your grandmother might know of (Does Oriental Emporium ring a bell?)
  • cassettes of artistes from the 1960's to 1990's
  • clothes that date to the 1960's as well including my wedding night evening gown (29 years ago) which I can still wear!!!! PHEW!
  • my wedding shoes
  • my older son's baby clothes, diapers and the first towel he used
  • my vintage 1970's original red tab Levi's jeans which is probably worth 500USD now (based on checks I made in various vintage sites)
  • old magazines, post-cards, stamps, badges
  • three boxes of scarves and pashmina shawls, some of the former date back to 1950's!!!
  • my childhood collection of comics eg June and School Friends, Beano Annuals, Dandy etc
  • my boys' collection of toys, half of which I gave to a friend's son who was spellbound by the collection
  • my badge, matchbox, key chain, vcd and dvd collections
I can also hold a sale for handbags that date from 1970's to the present. In total, I have more than 100 handbags stored in various places till I had forgotten about them. The best part about spring-cleaning is finding $$$ in wallets or handbags. My 'harvest' came up to 120RM which I found in various handbags and wallets.

Amazingly, I still have those accessories I used in primary school, my first teddy bear, my toy train, old books especially those I treasured as a young girl.


Life is like that. We waltz through it like a breeze without stopping to check and to take stock of life, ourselves, values etc. Somehow, all of us need to do housekeeping - of our stuff, our emails and even affiliations/people in our lives. And then we begin to realize that something or someone we deemed as important or real or sincere may not be so. Never expect gratitude for whatever you do. Most of the time, once people deem us as 'not useful any more', we are struck off their roll. Whilst it is good to be honest and transparent, it does not mean that people with whom we trust and relate to reciprocate in the same vein of thought. One may never know their true intentions or sincerity until much too late, in some circumstances. And it is fine if we lose touch with such people for at the end of the day, it is real people, sincere friends and those with a heart ready to care, to love and to help that matter.

It is so easy to be blinded overwhelmed by circumstances, idealism or even be caught up with activities until one may not know what IS life all about.

Double standards reign be it in society or even in inter-personal relationships. For those who are too tolerant, one ends up being a door-mat. A brainless slave helping others. Malicious ones may not accord them respect or dignity let alone honesty.

I look back without regret for all the pain, frustration and disappointment I went through. Not a single tear at all as I realigned my life, priorities, relationships. In fact, I am so thankful for all that has happened. Resilience, independence and level headedness are more important than acceptance or validation from people. It is what INSIDE and within us that matter. Not who are around us. Not who we believe in or help or relate to in life.

In my entire life, I have never been as happy and as contented as I am now. And I believe I have finally found myself.

And - that is such a wonderful feeling.

To those of you who have reached out to me sincerely with patience love and acceptance for who I am, thank you.  I will respond to your emails soon.

My son is home and it is going to be a beautiful homecoming.  Sorry for this late post. I was out the whole afternoon with a former student who works in Seattle. Take care and have a beautiful evening.

4 comments to Retrospective Nostalgia

  1. says:

    cin2tan wow, panjang nya cerita ni !
    I used to have the reel-tape recorder collection then for car use : cartridge stereo, all thrown away now ; then cassette > 500 pieces ( still keeping) from 1971 ...10 cent a song selected from various original/pirated black 33 1/3 rpm records ! then compact cd ...dvd BUT not able to download songs & movies from youtube , dun know why !?

    The latest collection is an 8-in music box, with 'pen-drive & memory card' costing < rm100 & its beautiful sound reception from FM , tucked under pillows, day/nite & in <15 minutes ...pun zzzz!

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear cin2tan

    You can download youtube movies and songs...can use youtube converter...works for mp3, mp4 etc

    Take care and have a ince day!

    Cheers

  1. says:

    Shadower Good evening MWS and Cin2Tan
    Well, it seems Masterwordsmith adores music. SO do I. Music does make the world go round, doesn't it? You are in an envious place MWS, it is rare to find someone who is happy and contented!
    Here is some more rare retrospective nostalgia, question is, how far back would you go to find great music? Let's find out together:)
    Go here for a blast from the 60's, a total of six tracks. I suspect there is going to be some OMG I haven't heard that in a while moments! Enjoy:)
    http://pathtroddennot.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/blast-from-60s-volume-1.html

    Do keep in touch guys.
    Shadower

  1. says:

    Unknown Dear Shadower

    Thank you for your kind response.

    It has certainly ,not been an easy road to get to where I am today.

    From an emo queen, I have morphed into quite a sedate and calm character.

    From one who was sociable and friendly, I have transformed into a recluse finding solace in books, musics and blogging.

    From one who USED to be trusting, helpful and even hopeful, I am now a realist who shudders at the memory of tupperware characters, especially those Jekyll and Hyde ones.

    Through it all, my interaction with genuine, sincere, caring and sensitive friends and readers have somewhat restored my faith in humans. Thank you for being one of them.

    Take care and God bless you.

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