Thread: The good old days. What makes them so good? Why would we want them back?

I hear the phrase the good old days. What does that mean. for someone 20 it means last week. For someone 30 it means 10 years ago. for someone 60 it means something totally different. Just what are the good old days.

Why were they good and how do they differ from today. I am interested in a discussion and debate on different ideas and ideals that existed in the good old days.

Well, sometimes the old days were better. Like when I was six or seven and my dad was alive, it was more fun. He used to come up to the school on weekends and take me out and we had loads of fun times. I guess people just remember stuff like that.

The trials and tribulations of old age coupled with a fear of death conspire to lend a romanticization (is that a work? )to a personal history that might not otherwise be there.

The good old days is normally a saying from old people who miss their youth.

The good old days are nostalgia.

The good old days are for me a place where i found the most peace. Right now i have more peace in my life than I ever had. I guess when I look back at life in the future these will be the good old days.

Originally Posted by katiegrrl0

I hear the phrase the good old days. What does that mean. for someone 20 it means last week. For someone 30 it means 10 years ago. for someone 60 it means something totally different. Just what are the good old days.

Why were they good and how do they differ from today. I am interested in a discussion and debate on different ideas and ideals that existed in the good old days.

The good old days, I think, are linked to "youth". Things were "good" because of our youth.

I like the concept of having good old days and good new days. And good future days.

Bob Dylan is a good example, to me, of someone who stayed "rejuvenated" - who continued to evolve and reinvent himself in various guises / throwing off the coat of former identifications / and trying on new coats. If the good old days is tied to "youth", then remaining young (in our psyche, at least) is a good way to continue having good days and enjoying ALL of our lives.

Comparing the present unfavourably in the light of our good old days is blinkered. Because the youth are enjoying their good old days right now!

It's as much about not clinging to any period of our past, and of moving on, and of embracing / adapting ourselves to these times that are a changin'...