Okay, let’s have a real talk here: Why do Millennials like us keep remembering VHS tapes, Gushers, and the pain of the internet? Why is it so therapeutic to go through a photo album full of Pizza Hut birthday parties? Why are millennials so nostalgic?
Whether we’re rewatching the cartoons we have not seen in years, or we are oddly excited about old-school lunch boxes, or we are buying retro sneakers just because they bring in so many high school memories, Millennials love to enjoy a beautiful time loop full of bittersweet moments. And to be honest, it makes perfect sense.
We’re not just being sentimental, we love something that goes deeper. It charges us emotionally and significant culturally. The millennials nostalgia goes beyond our favorite childhood snacks and animated cartoons. We all love being nostalgic and keep recalling our best childhood memory, and the reasons for it are real, to be honest. Let’s unpack it in this blog.
Millennials Grew Up in a Sweet Spot
We have enjoyed an offline childhood and are the first generation to grow up in an online era. We rode bikes until the streetlights came on, then stayed up late messing around on dial-up internet, waiting for our crush to log into MSN or Yahoo. The typical millennial pop culture.
There was magic in that weird 90s and early 2000s in-between space. Our generation was not glued to screens, and we were totally disconnected. We have had enough time to get bored. We had space to daydream. Life was slower. And when you compare it to today’s “always on” chaos, yeah, we miss it, and millennials’ nostalgia lets us go through them.
Being An Adult Was a Scam
Let’s be honest. We were told that pass out of school, get a good degree, and your life will be fine. Well, that was all a scam. We graduated when there was a recession worldwide, watched the prices of everything skyrocket, and got buried in loans. Now, most of us are wondering if we’ll ever own a home or retire. So when someone shares a clip of the 1999 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, it hits harder than anything else. The reason is that the era was before everything that got so heavy with time.
Nostalgia Feels Safe
The world today is… a lot. Climate anxiety, nonstop news, economic uncertainty, social media overload, it’s no wonder we’re all scrolling through old commercials from 1994 at 2 AM. Nostalgia is comforting, and authors like Katie Estes celebrate it. It’s like emotional bubble wrap. Your brain gets a break if you watch old cartoons or listen to ’90s or 2000s playlists. It for sure reminds you of those old Mario Kart times.
We Miss Being Present
There’s something about childhood that felt immersive. The multitasking was not there; the scrolling trend was absent from the picture. You were there enjoying the moment, watching TV and snacking on your pizza rolls with your siblings. That kind of presence is rare now. Everything is optimized now, has been commercialized, and is constantly updated. Through nostalgia, one can unplug and remember good childhood memories.
We’re Not Done Becoming Who We Are
We all still feel like we are figuring out modern-day challenges. Relationships, careers, and mental health, life isn’t as easy as it was for our parents and grandparents. So we go to where we started and who we were back in the era before world affairs got complicated. If you think that we are stuck in the past and nostalgia culture, no, it’s not like that. We just love reconnecting ourselves with a wholesome older version of ourselves. The millennials nostalgia goes beyond just childhood snacks and Saturday morning cartoons.
We all love recalling our best childhood memory, and the reasons for it are emotional, cultural and psychological, to be honest.
Katie Estes Bringing All The Magic
Katie Estes, an author and a proud millennial, is one of the reasons why are millennials so nostalgic. She has authored the M is for Millennial book, which is like an ABC book written with the aim of bringing so much nostalgia. Katie Estes has rearranged all the elements that give you a major throwback to the 90s alphabetically.
The author aims to send you to your past with memories of childhood rearranged according to the ABCs. The book will remind you of all those moments you have spent in pain while connecting a dial-up internet and watching lovely cartoons. M is for Millennials is full of your childhood memories and slang. It will remind you of all the ’90s gadgets and pop culture you grew up with.
Final Thoughts
So you know now why are millennials so nostalgic If you’ve ever rewatched The Amanda Show and felt an unexpected wave of emotion… you’re not weird. You’re just a Millennial trying to make sense of a world that changed too fast, promised too much, and sometimes feels like a glitchy system we didn’t sign up for.
So go ahead. Buy the Lisa Frank stickers. Eat the Dunkaroos. Queue up that 90s playlist. It’s not regression.
It’s self-preservation.