Sentimentality. A blessing or a curse?

[Kitty]

I have been thinking a lot about sentimentality recently. I feel like it really isn't very productive at all. I tend to get sentimental about everything and anything, and I'm not even sure why.

I have also known people who have absolutely no grain of sentimentality in them. I'm not sure which is better. Sometimes I feel like my sentimentality gets in the way of me being productive - and simply makes me miss people, events, and happenings from my past. However, I don't want to be completely detatched from those things either.

[kitalyn414]

i think being sentimental is definitely a blessing. i wish i were more sentimental.

i envy people who cherish people, places, & things in an emotional way. just goes to show you that you are invested in all that you do & you honor your memories.

[stonemonkey]

i think sentimentality is a part of feeling human, but it definitely has it's drawbacks. i wish i could just turn it on when i needed it and turn it off when it gets in the way.

[wordsmith]

I am ultra-sentimental. I honestly wouldn't prefer myself any other way, and I have a hard time identifying with people who aren't that way.

[skigirl227]

Having a strong sense of sentimentality has enabled me to keep lots of friendships going that I established in the past. It helps overcome distance and contributes to "picking up where we left off."

Even when I go back to my hometown for the holidays, I still have friends to hang out with. If it wasn't for being sentimental, I wouldn't have held onto these connections and perhaps they would have forgotten about me! I've had friends tell me that they appreciate the fact that I'm sentimental and that even if we've haven't talked for years, they are so glad I made the effort!

The downfall of being sentimental is that sometimes you'll get disappointed because you'll remember someone as being better in your memories and then you get disappointed (ex: happened with a crush that lived far away). Or, you can get disappointed if your sentimentality leads you into having high expectations of an old friend and then you feel left down when it's not the same.

[stonemonkey]

i guess you guys feel like the benefits of feeling sentimental outweight the 'feelin like shit' aspect of it

[teebes]

I don't know, I consider myself very sentimental, and it's great when things are going well in my life, and it SUCKS when I'm depressed.

I guess that like most things in life, it's a balance. Some people are prone to feeling a lot of joy and a lot of pain, and others will feel less joy, and less pain. I don't really think that one goes without the other.

I've wished MANY times that I were less sentimental, though. But thankfully, I don't think I can help it.

[bigboom]

i hate being sentimental abotu things because you attach feelings and emotions to things that you sometimes wish you could just get rid of. this makes life more emotional and vibrant for sure but at times painful.

[pash]

I'm sentimental and I love it - it feels good to feel that deeply, even if it's pain. And, I think close friends appreciate it sometimes.

[cazort]

Originally posted by Kitty
I have been thinking a lot about sentimentality recently. I feel like it really isn't very productive at all.

Maybe it's not productive because you're not doing the right things. Our society is like a big machine, and it treats people like machines, not like people. In this world, sentimentality is counterproductive.

But, in the world of human emotions, and the spiritual world, sentimentality has so many functions:

(1) Remembering important things that you might not have a "logical" reason for thinking them important, but they are important, so you remember them.

(2) Caring about other people in situations that you might not care about if you were going to be strictly "rational".

(3) Changing the direction in your life based on your experiences and an irrational, but true and good sense of human compassion.

I personally found that when I started really embracing all the different aspects of my emotions--in particular the ones you're talking about, like the slightly sad, reflective feelings, the warm fuzzy feelings thinking about certain people or events, and all the various gut feelings I got, I started seeing things in a totally different way. I also realized that I couldn't go into science--that that would be wrong for me.

Of course, now I'm having a very difficult time, because I'm not a good "fit" with this rigid, mechanical world. But I'm going to change that--I'm determined that this is the right way to be. People who repress their emotions just contribute to the degradation of society, and I refuse to be one of those people!