Right now is going to be somebody’s “good old days.” Possibly yours. Notice it while you’re in it.

Nostalgia is mostly a trick of distance, and the years people miss were ordinary and slightly irritating while they were being lived. Whoever ends up looking back fondly on this exact stretch will not be remembering a highlight. They will be remembering routine: the same seats, the same walk, the same handful of people.

Try noticing one ordinary thing a day that you would miss if it stopped. The specific friend in the specific hallway, the drive, the smell of the building. Noticing from the inside is the only version that costs you nothing.