I’ve been thinking more about this whole analog renaissance that’s happening lately, you know, film cameras making a comeback, planners and notebooks everywhere, people romanticizing flip phones like they were magical artifacts instead of devices that dropped calls if you breathed wrong. Add to that the beauty trend of reverting back to full 2016 mode: bold brows, matte lips, winged eyeliner sharp enough to cut glass. Even Instagram has joined in, encouraging everyone to post throwback photos of themselves from 2016, when our biggest worry was whether our contour was blended enough.
I can’t help but wonder if this collective urge to rewind has something to do with the current state of the country (and the world, really). Maybe our brains are just tired. Perhaps scrolling through chaos all day has led people to seek comfort in a time that felt simpler, or at least one that made sense. Back then, the algorithm wasn’t yelling at us, the news wasn’t a constant low-grade panic attack, and our phones didn’t demand we have an opinion every 30 seconds.
There’s something oddly soothing about going “analog,” or at least pretending to. Writing things down. Using tangible objects. Recreating a version of ourselves from a time when life felt more predictable, or when we personally felt more grounded. It’s not so much about wanting to relive 2016 as it is wanting the vibes of 2016: less existential dread, more highlighter and iced coffee.
So maybe this isn’t just a trend. Maybe it’s collective self-soothing. A cultural security blanket. And honestly? If winged eyeliner and a paper planner are what help us cope right now, I say we let 2016 live again, just with better boundaries and fewer YouTube apology videos.
Tommy asked me if I had any photos from when I lived in Europe, and I’m pretty sure I do, so down the rabbit hole I went. I started digging through a stack of old photos and, sure enough, I found a few of me over there. Not many, though. I realized I don’t have a lot of pictures with me in them, which makes sense. I’m usually the one behind the camera. That, and I’ve never been particularly fond of being photographed.
What I did find were photos of places, lots of them. France and Germany mostly, with a handful from Salzburg, Austria. I also found some old pictures of the girls, and a few of me when I was younger. Those made me pause for a moment. Especially the ones of the girls as babies.
And then… I came across pictures of my ex. Those did not get a sentimental pause. They got promptly shredded. It made me irrationally angry that I still had any photos of him at all. I could have sworn I’d gotten rid of everything years ago. Apparently, I only purged the digital versions. I didn’t realize there were still physical photographs lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump-scare me.
Going through all these pictures was more overwhelming than I expected. They aren’t organized at all, so the timeline made absolutely no sense. One moment I’d see a photo of myself at six years old, and the very next one would be one of the girls as babies. My brain didn’t stand a chance. It was like being emotionally time-traveled without a seatbelt.
Tommy said we’ll scan in the photos I left out, so I’ll share those later. There’s one from my 6th birthday party that I want to post—I want to show it to Lisa and Michelle since they’re both in it. It’s cute in that awkward sort of way.
The soundtrack today? Pure 80s glory. Right now, I’m listening to Prince, which feels both motivating and distracting. Like, yes, I could study… but I could also dramatically stare into the distance pretending I’m in an 80s movie montage where nothing is due and everything works out by the end of the song.
Today is just not giving “productive scholar energy.” I haven’t studied at all yet, and at this point, I think my brain has officially gone on strike. It’s holding a tiny picket sign that says “No thoughts until fed.” So first things first: lunch. Because there’s absolutely no learning happening on an empty stomach.
Maybe after lunch I’ll try again.
Ok, soundtrack change. I switched to some lo-fi music to study to. This is nice. It’s the perfect background hum, not too distracting, not too boring. Just enough of a vibe to make me feel productive, like I’m the main character in a cozy “studying at a café while it rains” montage. No lyrics trying to steal my attention, no sudden emotional crescendos. I might actually get some solid studying done with this playing.
Everest is here today, and I can’t keep her and Merlin outside for very long because of the snow. We did a few laps around the house, but that excitement wore off pretty quickly. Now they’re both sprawled out, clearly offended that winter exists at all and that I did not personally cancel it for them.
This past weekend was actually really nice. On Friday, Tommy and I went into town to Costco to grab dinner and stock up before the winter storm set in. But first, because of priorities, we stopped at the bowling alley to get Tommy’s bowling ball fixed. Once that was done, we figured we were already there, so why not play a couple of games? I won one, he won the other, so we’ll call it a draw and pretend we’re both champions. After that, we hit Costco, and then on the way back home, we stopped at our local store to grab even more food, because apparently, we were preparing for a snowpocalypse.
The weather people were calling for a full-on snowpocalypse. In reality, we did get a decent amount of snow, just nowhere near the dramatic, end-of-the-world totals they were hyping up.
Saturday was hair day. Kel, the girls, and I went to the next town over for our appointments, and it felt so good to finally cut off the bleached ends. My hair is pretty short now. Karissa and Kel also went short, while Alexis just got a trim.
Sunday was mostly a stay-at-home day until Tommy had to leave for hockey. He had an early game this weekend, so before heading out, we squeezed in some family time and played a board game with Alex and Jay. We played Dead of Winter, which is a zombie apocalypse game and a lot of fun. We did not win, which feels very on brand for a group trying to survive the end of the world, but we had a good time anyway.
I studied for a few hours today, though focusing was a real struggle. It just wasn’t one of those super productive days, and I think that’s okay. I still got some studying done, and that counts for something. Now it’s almost the end of the day. I’m going to post this, make myself some hot tea, and let the day wind down.
