Every January for the past few years has been filled with people saying "Let's make 2025 the new 2015", and "Let's make 2024 the new 2014". This year, "Let's make 2026 the new 2016" has trended a lot more than previous years did.
I'm not sure why this year in particular picked up so much traction. Personally, I would have preferred remaking 2012 or 2013 since despite being very young at the time that is when the majority of things I find nostalgic are from besides music which is mostly 2016. But overall the reason nostalgia has become so trendy in the 2020s is because this decade has been horrible.
It started with COVID, right off the bat the world was shut down for two years. And since then there's only been more and more tensions being raised in other ways.
I don't think the people jumping on the 2016 trend actually want to live in 2016 again, they just want a simpler time. Especially since most of them don't even know what aesthetic 2016 was. I have seen far too many 2012/2013 aesthetic photos captioned as 2016, but I digress.
I never really grew out of my childhood interests. So for me wanting to live in a nostalgic way is just my life. I never stopped watching DVD's, or stopped collecting plushies, or stopped decorating based on what I like instead of sad beige trends. Well, I went through a interesting phase at 14-16 but what teenager doesn't? I was miserable the whole time though. I hadn't grown out of those things, I had just been bullied into suppressing those interests.
The thing is though, you don't need it to be 2016, or 2013, which is what these people seem to really want, to be happy. The world wasn't perfect then either. It never has been, and never will be. You were just a kid then so you think that because you didn't see the things that were happening.
What you really need is to live intentionally. Stop following trends. Decorate how makes you happiest, dress how makes you happiest, stop painting everything neutral colours, watch long form content online again and stop frying your attention span. I have ADHD and I have a better attention span than some of you people. It's alarming.
You can't go back, but you absolutely can bring back the things you loved. The reason you are so miserable is because you have convinced yourself you can't enjoy the same things anymore. People will call Disney adults cringey, and call adults who watch My Little Pony, or collect plushies, cringey. But you know what none of those people are ever called? Miserable.
There are no happier people than the people who don't care about being "cringe". Stop letting social media and the adult equivalent of high school mean girls determine what you're allowed to do and enjoy.
