Goodbye nostalgia

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." ~A.A. Milne

I'm feeling nostalgic. But the funny thing is, I'm finding myself nostalgic for a place I haven't yet left! I have to confess this always happens to me. Any place I've ever called home, I've felt nostalgia leading up to moving on. Nostalgia is defined as "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past." I've wondered if there's a word in another language that succinctly captures the feeling of nostalgia for place you haven't left. It seems like there should be a phrase in German or Icelandic and yet the perfect term remains elusive to me.

There's actually a word in German called 'fernweh', or farsickness, the opposite of homesickness, which is an interesting contender. It's used to describe a longing to be somewhere you’ve never been. While it may not perfectly encapsulate the sentiment, 'fernweh' is an expression of a feeling we've all likely experienced but struggled to articulate.

I guess if there's anything to understand it's that life only moves in one direction: forward. So while nostalgia can give rise to memories of the past and keep you ruminating in those feelings, it can also serve as a compass. Like the German word 'ferweh', it can guide you toward future desires. As I find myself nostalgic for a place I've yet to leave, I embrace the bittersweet notion of saying goodbye to this familiar space and saying hello to somewhere new. I'm finding the anticipation of new experiences shaping the path forward with each step, as I bid adieu to one home and say hallo to the next.