My mom speaks of the good old days as if she once lived like Folusho Alakija. My dad speaks of the good old days as if he was the Otedola of 'his time'. When I speak of the good old days you might wonder if I am a fully blown artiste who went back to being an upcoming act. The way everyone speaks of the good old days, you'd think it was all roses and no thorns.

Was the past rosy?

Now, when I hear people exclaim:

'Oh! Those were the good old days', in the sage-ness gained with time, I find myself wondering if they could turn back the hands of time, would they prefer to have been stuck in time, or to be present; here and now. The 'good old days' makes it easy to forget all the struggles that arose therein: clearing the mind of past troubles and making it seem the old days were a smooth ride. Truly if what doesn't kill you doesn't make you kill yourself it can only make you stronger. So, bye Nos-tal-gi-a.

Then or now?

I often wonder in my thoughts into those days which seemed too good to be true now, and ask myself if I'd prefer then to now; well, maybe, maybe not. I can say I know when mobile phones became the real 'craze' in Nigeria; everyone wanted to own one: days when sim cards were sold for #50,000; I'm glad they are way lesser now though. I send a special thanks to the gods of technology and smart-phones daily. I don't know what I would have done without search engines like Google, Bing and Wikipedia in school; I don't know what I would have done without the beauty of social media, so I'm not sorry when I say I'd rather be here than there. Bye nos-tal-gi-a!

You might speak of Limca and Goldspot: Well, hello Pulpy and Lacasera. I sure miss those days when Mr Biggs were a 'big' thing but I can't deny the pleasures of a slice of Dominos pizza even though I'd still buy dundun (yam fries) on the streets than from them. I'm grateful for coloured, flat and inched screens; I sure do not miss being the remote to our black and white television.

Even though I hate nosy family members and friends; their impromptu visits and all it entails, I can't thank the automobile gods enough for cars and oh; planes. I find it very hard to believe that the common man like me once lived without their comforts. Well, bye nos-tal-gi-a!

I'm a huge fan of all the growth the fashion industry has been through. I'm here for all the crop tops, crazy jeans, bloomer shorts, fringes, tropical brights and kitsch prints. Bye nos-tal-gi-a.

I remember days when mama bought Christmas clothes and shoes as early as October; giving us the Christmas feel even from that moment. I can't help but miss those days when salaries were paid timely and workers weren't owed their basic rights. I wonder and smile at the myself; the bits and pieces. Why can't I just miss a particular time and remain stuck in that moment? With time, it seems despite not feeling feely, 'things' age and worse. I can't fault that person who said "Don't grow up, it's a trap." Bye nos-tal-gi-a.

A child's memory of the past is always refreshing, making you mistake old for good: Nostalgia it seems is a staunch defender of memories.

Forget nostalgia, reality is the real deal. Try as we may to go back in time or be here, the past and present has their own allure.

Written by Christiana Osun

Christiana is a lover of words. She's not just a reader, she's also a writer. She's sarcastic, fun loving, and an enigma of possibilities. Instagram handle: _themillenniallady_ Facebook: OSUN Christiana Oluwadamilola Email: krwistee@gmail.com