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vintage-retro 

For some things one blogpost just isn’t enough. A while ago I explained to you where my vintage fascination came from. One fine day in my personal history (2 weeks ago), I was half-awake and scrolling through my facebook timeline with one eye open. (People who are smiling right now will understand). That morning, one picture about the 1950s gave me a wake-up call. The picture was taken from and old movie scene and had a caption like: “Why didn’t I grew up in the 1950s”. The discussion below the picture was actually quite interesting. Some people resented the statement and pointed out issues like racism, discrimination and the disadvantaged position of women. Although I obviously know how much these issues (unfortunately) were alive and kicking back in the day, I don’t agree with the comments. But…it got me thinking and led to this sequel of the origin of my vintage fascination v.s. the present.

If you think we are living in “The Best Era”, think again (or just watch the news). Just like there are no perfect people, I believe there is also no perfect era to live in. Every era has its darkside and its charm. The 1950s had it and we also have it right now. Right now we are living in an era with a lot of possibilities, remarkable technological innovations (hello Apple smartwatch, drones and Google glass) and other luxuries. We have so many choices and possibilities that 24 hours in a day are not enough. However, while you are reading this post, someone else may be neglected, bullied or worse or and another person just feels unhappy with his/her life. Racism may be gone (officially in most countries), but bullying is not. We have a lot of communication channels, but sometimes we forget to really talk to each other. Most of us (in the West) have a lot of opportunities to educate ourself and earn more. However, sooner or later we all find out that money is handy and needed (to pay the rent, your house, plane ticket and walk-in-closet…), but you can’t buy happiness.

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mental scales

When I say scales, you probably think about a healthy physical weight or balance.
Especially balance is important, not just physically but also mentally. When you think about your life: how much weight do you put on the positive experiences and how much on the negative experiences? Wild guess, but there won’t be any balance because the negativity tips the scales.

In fact…most people give more “weight” to the negative experiences. Now (unfortunately), some people go through very negative experience in life which have a great impact on their life. And in that case it’s logical to give more weight to the negative experiences. On the other hand roughly said, you have the “average” person who’s had a normal childhood, with a roof over his head, educated, a (loving family), with the conveniences of the modern Western world and freedom. The funny thing is that the people who’ve had very bad experiences or have less are more likely to give more weight to the positive things in their life.
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