time & time again

This was a very personal project for me, as I have always wanted to do a stand alone illustration-based work in my college career. Combining my personal experiences and knowledge, this book comes from a very special place in my heart.

“Nostalgia” is typically defined as a sentimental longing or affection for the past, and can be triggered by certain sounds, sights, textures, or scents. Sometimes, we even have nostalgia for moments that did not happen in our own lives, such as the longing to live in a decade before us in all of its glamour and fashion. All in all, it is a collective experience shared among different generations and tells rich and colorful stories. We reflect on different times, time and time again. However, it can also be paradoxical: it often views the past through rose-colored glasses, overlooking the hardships many faced, whether in family life or on a greater scale.

But perhaps, nostalgia can be seen not as a paradox, but as a superpower in our lives — a therapeutic and encouraging force that motivates us to move forward in life. When we experience nostalgia, we essentially attempt to take back the qualities we miss from the past, whether it be freedom from responsibility or childlike wonder and imagination. Growing up often means abandoning such “childish” traits. Yet some of these qualities are the very factors that make individuals shine the brightest, and make the world more colorful. Nostalgia ties closely to what we love the most at the very core, especially for those who turn their passions into careers. A world with no nostalgia means no world at all. We constantly create and build by using our past experiences to inform newer ones.