Do you indulge in sentimental memories? Do you enjoy perusing your photo collections? Do you like listening to "oldies" songs on the radio, YouTube, or other popular venues?
If so, don't feel embarrassed — for social scientists now say that nostalgia is not only harmless, but actually beneficial for our well-being. Indeed, the more emotionally healthy we are, the likelier to feel sentimental easily.
It certainly wasn't always viewed this way. The word nostalgia comes from ancient Greek, combining "nostos" (to return home or to one's native land) and "algos" (referring to pain, suffering, or grief). The word was created back in 1688 by a Swiss physician named Johannes Hofer, who discussed it in his medical treatise.