I rarely leave the house as I am always writing and editing previous write-ups but this past weekend I decided I must be at a funeral event. Meanwhile I took a trip down memory lane and revisited Okhoro Road, Benin City. I trekked long for up to 2 hours because of my boundless curiosity. The last time I was here was 15 years ago. I examined everything my eyes could see. The drainages, the houses, the people hustling and bustling for survival, the bustling shops, the moderately-paced traffic of buses and tricycles, the redness of the soil, the outdated factories. I smelt the air. The rich history. I relived everything. I almost got down to the river. It brought back so much childhood memories and in the moment I was inspired. The memories evoked a torrent of emotions I am still finding the right words for.
I began to meditate on the power of nostalgia and its potential effect on storytelling. Nostalgia refers to the profound feeling or craving of revisiting the past. A story feels more important to us when we can resonate with it and there’s nothing that feels more relatable than the golden age of childhood. The yesteryears. That is where the real stories are. The first time we kissed and fell in love. The confusing years of teenage depression. The first time we learnt a skill and got employed. Our first crazy colleagues. Those crazy neighbours we always gossiped about. Those nights when we took strolls to buy fried fish and suya at the roadside junction around Medical Stores Road. Those midnights we spent talking to our crush on the phone. When we eventually got our heart broken and had to watch our sweetheart marry someone else — a most heart-wrenching experience. When we spent quality time filled with love and laughter with family even though the money wasn’t always there. When we had bread and akara for breakfast. The first time we watched the World Cup and Olympics. When the Landlord came to draw rent but we couldn’t pay. When we got flogged at school for not buying the latest prescribed novel or textbook. When we first started living alone. Or when we realized that adulthood means childhood is over. Everything is serious now. No one has time for your excuses anymore. It is now time to work hard and pay bills, find someone special to dedicate yourself to and give birth to those who will extend our legacy. The list goes on and on and on.
But that is the power of nostalgia and this fuels the magic of effective storytelling because it comes from a real place. I got dozens of story ideas from that locale.
Perhaps you are feeling uninspired these days. Why not take a trip down memory lane? Perhaps you would rediscover something from your past more intriguing and inspiring than expected. It is amazing what you can experience or create when we explore the power of nostalgia.
