Youth

I feel like most people in this world, who have grown up in a stable family, look back upon their childhood with nostalgia and wonder at its intoxicating carefreeness. For me, whenever I think back on it, everything seems to be glowing. As if we were always outside bathed in sunshine. It’s kind of interesting because this is exactly how John T. Unger in the Diamond as Big as the Ritz characterizes youth, “A dream… Everybody’s youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.” Maybe it’s just me but I have noticed from the way childhood is often portrayed that everyone seems to imagine their childhood as though it is some kind of fantasy wonderland where everything is happy-go-lucky. Also, notice that I say “imagines.” It’s as though, once they have gone past childhood for a good amount of years, people start to believe that only positive things occurred during their youth, they fail to mention or even remember that there were also unpleasant events, that what might seem easy or nonstressful now might have been the absolute end of the world when they were younger. Nobody ever seems to take those things into account, which creates an unrealistic view of what youth is. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to put a damper on your view of your childhood, I love the idea of this dream-like view of childhood. It gives us hope and keeps people optimistic about the future, but we also have to face facts. If people dwell too much in the past, they won’t be able to see reality. This is exactly what happened to Gatsby. He thought that he could have what he had back in the day before he went to war, but really, he never had Daisy at all. His background and lack of money made sure of that.