It’s Simple: Stop romanticizing the past and live in the present.

As soon as the eleventh grade IB English teacher whips out “The Great Gatsby” or grandpa starts up his “the good old days” lecture, people are eager to don a flapper-girl dress, hop in a Rolls-Royce and head for the drive-in. If you or a loved one matches this description, please stop causing people like me everywhere to cringe their eyes out. 

We love to focus on how good things used to be — how glamorous and exciting the ‘20s party culture was. How the quality of life was far superior before all this obstructive technology infiltrated our lives. Oh yes, things were “much better.”

Coincidentally, the Gatsby fanatics always seem to forget that their flapper-girl parties would’ve been accompanied by sexism and racism, and “the good old days” before technology often left people unable to communicate properly. 

It’s true: I’m the one that rolls her eyes whenever someone says “I was born in the wrong decade.” 

It’s not cynicism — I just feel incredibly lucky to live in the time that I do. We’re too quick to look to the past for what appears to be “happier times,” while glazing over crippling economic depression or horrifying threats of nuclear war. Instead of romanticizing the past, we should be marveling at all the privileges our current lifetime provides us with.

The average citizen has technology that allows them to access nearly unlimited information on the internet. Medications have been developed that allow us to survive numerous ailments that likely would’ve killed us only twenty years ago. People are fighting against discrimination towards race, sex, social class, sexual orientation and other civil rights issues. While there’ll always be room for improve, the trend line is clear — as time goes on, we advance. 

I’m not demanding you stop watching YouTube videos for decade-inspired outfits or filling your Pinterest with ‘90s aesthetic photos. But before you wish to be a ‘60s teenager experiencing “The Beatles” culture, consider that many of your friends would be developing addictions to “diet pills” full of methamphetamines. And the pot-smoking teenage dream you picture listening to the Beach Boys probably doesn’t account for the violent racism occurring during desegregation.

You’re dreaming when you could be living — all the things we romanticized are arguably more available to us now then ever. You can listen to the Beach Boys. Any time you want. They’re a Spotify click away.

I’m not trying to say that people who lived in the past didn’t have good lives either. The ‘70s certainly were groovy compared to the Great Depression. But that just proves my point — as time goes on, we develop and grow. Life only gets better, so why go back?

Just look at the passage of time and the development of society. Millenia ago we were foraging for food and communicating with each other through grunts and points. Centuries ago we were bleeding people’s arms to cure disease — a treatment that often ended in the death of the afflicted.

Even decades ago, our society was generally ignorant or unaccepting of many people’s sexual orientation and gender identity. Despite all of the problems that we find in our current lives, we’re living in the most ideal version of our society — and it continues to improve. 

As intellectually-advanced beings, we are able to progress and evolve for the better. Decades from now, people may look back at 2020 and reminisce on e-girl outfits and put pictures of young Timothée Chalamet on their walls, but I have to believe society will have advanced overall from modern day.

I don’t believe we will ever stop viewing our past with rose-colored glasses. While social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak, it’s easy to long for a year like 2007 when the top news story was Britney Spears shaving her head. It feels better to focus on artificial frivolities, because we don’t want to look back and see the full picture — especially if your current life’s reality is feeling harsh. 

If you need the emotional therapy of mentally immersing yourself in the iconic ‘80s “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”-esqe high school setting, complete with leopard print swimsuits and twisting the phone cord around your finger while you call your sweetheart, go ahead and let your mind wander. But when you get on your smart phone to check Snapchat after the throwback montage, give some appreciation to everything that modern life has afforded you.