Into the Night

Recently, I felt a pull of '90s nostalgia, and decided to watch some music videos from that era (as you do). One of them was for Ondina's Into the Night, a fairly obscure Eurodance gem that was featured on one of those dance music compilations that proliferated throughout much of the decade. Reading the comments section of the video, I was initially nodding my head at a lot of the positive comments being made about the music and the decade, that is until I read one that said, "It was a simpler time." Reading that created the equivalent of a record scratch in my head.

I was in my teens and early twenties during the 1990s. It was a fun decade, to be sure, though I am not as certain that it was because it was the '90s, so much as the age I was at the time. Indeed, we tend to romanticize our younger years, and that's okay. What we should be wary of is using nostalgia to cloud our objective view of the past, using it to look askance at the present. My late, maternal grandmother used to say that her favorite time of life was 1938-39, but then readily admitted it was because she was ten-years-old at the time, and she thought most people would probably choose a similar time frame as their favorite period of life.

When I think back to the 1990s, much of the culture (music, films, fashion, etc.) comes to mind, and I let loose with one of those sentimental sighs that can only come from someone remembering what they consider to be a better past. Yes, times were simpler for me then, but there was also a lot of negativity to navigate. High school was often rough and isolating. When I lived on my own, it was difficult to make ends meet. Love and romance were nowhere to be found. Life during the mid-late '90s was usually taken up by either classes at the local community college, working either fast food or retail, maybe a few nights each week at the local disco, or, quite often, sitting at home with my cat, watching TV or reading a book.

Of course, looking back it is easier to compartmentalize what our former lives were like. The 1990s do seem simpler to me than today does. Of course, there are folks currently in their teens and early twenties who, a generation from now, will look back wistfully and remark that life seemed simpler for them back in the 2010s. It is interesting that such nostalgia can be evoked, even what it is regarding a period of our life that often includes great upheaval (getting prepped for college, or going off on our own and trying to traverse the 'real world' the best we can). With all of the frenzy, anxiety and frustration that comes with such an era, we -- most of us, anyway -- are still able to look back at it somewhat fondly.

It can be argued that we have structured our society in such a way as to exacerbate life's complexities, bringing the stress of adulthood and modern life upon ourselves. When we're young(er), many of us are less burdened with responsibility. As we get older, there are societal expectations of things such as: finding a vocation that will sustain us financially, owning our own home or paying rent, having reliable transportation, finding someone to share our life with, having and raising kids, and having enough money to afford everything that the aforementioned things require. Those are a lot of ways to complicate one's life. And, as we age, we're not only expected to have those things, but to progressively have nicer versions of those things. This may be why many younger people are rejecting such an existence.

Recently I was watching a television show from the 1950s -- a decade during which I was not alive -- and, just for a moment, fell into the cultivated nostalgia trap and thought, 'It was a simpler time then.' Very quickly, however, I reminded myself that there were plenty of folks going to work every day and stressing-out about their jobs. There were people who wanted to work, but couldn't. There were folks who were in the closet, lest they be ostracized (or worse) by society. People were being lynched. There was angry division over school integration. There was homelessness, and greed, and protest. It was, pretty much like most decades, a time period with good and bad, depending on who you ask.

So yes, sure, the 1990s were a simpler time. For me, I guess. And some others. The longer we live, the more life can wear us down. Perhaps that is what's happening with me, and those commenting on that Ondina video? Maybe we had less to worry about then? Or maybe, just maybe, our brains have filtered the reality for us in such a way that we selectively remember the good stuff first? There is also, of course, the every-present anxiety that the future brings. Not knowing how our lives -- and the lives of those we love -- will unfold can instigate a constant, low hum of unease within us. Once we've moved on, we can always look back and use hindsight to know how things worked out.

But, seriously, Eurodance was a lot fun.