The strange ache
It can feel like standing at the window of a train station, watching a departure board flicker with journeys you haven’t taken yet.
Sometimes we grieve a memory before it’s even real. You picture your kid’s first day of school, or imagine walking out of a job you haven’t quit yet. You catch yourself feeling the tug in your chest for a moment you haven’t lived.
That’s future nostalgia; longing for something that sits just ahead of you.
Why we do it
Your brain is constantly drafting possible futures. It runs little simulations: what you’ll say, who you’ll become, how you’ll look back.
That ache shows up because you’re already attaching meaning before time catches up. It’s a preview of the emotions waiting down the line, reminding you that your heart is already rehearsing the story.
Turning it into fuel
Name it. When you feel the ache, don’t push it away. Say, “I’m feeling future nostalgia right now.”
Write the scene. Treat it like a journal entry from tomorrow. What do you see? Who’s there?
Step into it. If you miss it already, maybe it’s a sign to create it sooner instead of waiting.
Taken together, these steps remind you that longing can become direction — a way to move from imagining into creating. And when you practice, those small steps begin to stitch tomorrow into today, turning anticipation into something tangible.
Living ahead of yourself
Future nostalgia shows you the moments worth chasing. Instead of letting them sit out of reach, start pulling them closer.
You don’t have to wait to feel whole inside them. Every glimpse forward is also an invitation to live more deeply right now.
I love this. The what ifs, the fantasies that play in our mind and future memories!!