Nostalgia is a powerful sentiment, one loaded with comfort, memory, and idealization. It can inform our ideologies, relationships, fashion, technologies, and even the food on our plates. It is both personal and public, reflected in our most intimate thoughts and our outward presentations of self, community, and the nation-state. At the same time, nostalgia is slippery and subjective, and its malleable nature is increasingly deployed as a tool in political propaganda and purchasing power.

In our increasingly chaotic and fast-paced world, it seems like everyone is looking towards a romanticized, sometimes mythologized, or maybe just less complicated past to provide a new sense of direction for our shared futures. But we must ask: was it always brighter and better in the past, or are we just conflating sepia tones with simplicity?

In Sassafras Initiative’s second issue, we are exploring nostalgia: the memory, the myth, and the impact. We invite curious and creative minds to share their unique approaches to the notion of nostalgia. Submissions are open to all kinds of critical interpretations and experimental approaches surrounding the central theme. Some sub-themes that have inspired our team (while not limiting) are: