Rachel's blog: These Are The Good Old Days

It’s often the sun on my face that does it – funny that, isn’t it?!

The warm feeling on my skin makes me think of days gone by; memories made in simpler times. It reminds me of ‘study breaks’ in the park when me and my friends did very little studying, truth be told, but relished lounging about in the late spring sun, dreaming about life after GCSEs (as they were then!).

I find it remarkable how powerfully a sense can pull out a memory for us – even those lodged deep in our past. Whether it’s a smell, or a sound; a taste or something we feel, we can be instantly drawn back to those days we once lived. I know it’s not always a positive thing and there can often be trauma attached to our senses too, but for me, mostly these things bring light, fun recollections of times gone by, people I knew and experiences shared.

If I let myself, I could spend plenty of time in those old memories. Sometimes I allow it. But the risk is slipping into thinking they were the ‘good old days’.

I’ve recently started following a poet called Hollie McNish after a friend sent me a soundbite from a radio show where she was reading one of her poems that resonated with my friend. I recommend checking her out! Another of her poems popped up on my social media the other day and it had the same effect as the sun on my face…

Call on Me – for friends who live further away than they used to

We don’t call on each other anymore

We all live too far away

And now impromptu visits worry you

Might ‘interrupt my day’

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 Now we must plan to meet in diaries

Don’t dance in pjs  / share the bed

You do not comb my hair for hours

To practices plaits – drink tea instead

I love you still, my friends

I count our meetings down like holidays

But dream each time the doorbell rings

It’s you, just called to play

I wonder if you, like me, resonate with Holly’s words; the bittersweet sentiment that none of us are where we used to be, not as close, perhaps, to our friends as we once were. I’d guess that the reason for that is probably just growing up, moving on, having our own families – all very good and lovely parts of life.

And yet. I do miss my years of school and university where my friends were my everything and life felt like it was made up of a series of Gossip Girl binges, nights out and lazy brunches!

If you’ve read my other blogs, you’ll know I got married 6 months ago and, thankfully, it is still amazing and sunshine-y! I love doing life with my husband and I wonder if, when we’re in the throes of midnight feeds or toddler tantrums, I’ll feel the sun on my face one spring day and be taken back to our easy, breezy honeymoon – those ‘good old days’!

I don’t think I’m alone in feeling nostalgic, but maybe I need to reframe things in my mind. Maybe I should be thinking (and treasuring) yesterday, today, tomorrow as the good old days.

Speaking of, I have some time off soon as I transition into a new job so I’d better get thinking about who I can call in on to play!

Rachel is a commercial property lawyer who has worked in a range of private practice firms as well as inhouse. Rachel sees great value in building legal community and the sharing of ideas, both to support more efficient working as well as prioritising wellbeing and satisfaction in our legal careers. She’s passionate about motivating and mobilising those around her to make a positive impact in the legal sector and the wider world. Rachel loves to travel and spends the occasional spare minute day-dreaming about her next adventure.

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• Wellbeing