The word nostalgia comes from the Greek words nostos (return) and algos (pain). A literal translation is the pain of the longing to return home.

Nostalgia became a medical diagnosis in 1688 in Switzerland after a local doctor observed symptoms of longing and yearning, including anxiety, palpitations, weeping and insomnia, in Swiss mercenaries employed in the service of European monarchs.  The monarch military had another explanation. They proposed that the constant clanging of cowbells by the cattle in the Alps had surely damaged the Swiss mercenaries eardrums, hence the cause of symptoms of nostalgia! 

Nostalgia has implications for our spiritual journey and path of soul growth. To be human is to have a nondescript longing and yearning within. This "spiritual homesickness" is a herald that beckons us to come home, stay home and live from home as we go out into the world. This inner call is universal, persistent, everlasting....as unrelenting as a cowbell in the Alps! 

When you feel spiritual nostalgia rise within, you may notice your impetus to redirect longing and yearning to a point of focus. The mind searches for the source and cause of our longing, and so we look to our external circumstances to fix the sensation of yearning. 

This week I invite you to use one mantra/prayer/contemplation with me as a portal of redirection. When you notice spiritual nostalgia in the form of longing or yearning, place a hand on the heart. Pause. With attention and intention allow these words to rise within.

"What I am yearning for is not out there. What I long for is in here."

 Allow these words of truth to ease the ache and soothe the pang of spiritual nostalgia. May they remind you that the home you long for is within you. It's there all the time and awaiting you.

With love,

Annie