There are days I miss the world I grew up in.
The world before filters and friend counts, before everything became instant but somehow… less personal.
This is my nostalgia poured into words — a longing for coconut shells and mud pies, for Walkmans and handwritten letters, for a time when happiness felt simpler and hearts felt fuller.

can we go back?
go back to the times when we played with coconut shells and made mud pies?
can we go back to the days before modern technology quietly stole my childhood?

can we go back—
to a time when natural beauty was enough,
when makeup was soft, subtle, almost invisible,
and cosmetic surgery wasn’t a ticket to feeling normal
just to keep up with the crowd?

“There was a time when beauty was in the way the sun hit your face, not the way a filter did.”

can we go back—
to when reading meant holding a real book—
three hundred or even over a thousand pages bound together,
sometimes in hard cover, sometimes just paper,
always with crisp sheets and that beautiful new-book scent,
each word a key to worlds waiting inside?

can we go back—
to the days of a Walkman in hand,
earphones trailing like a lifeline,
tapes stacked with the albums we loved—
before every song came with a subscription fee,
before music lived behind paywalls,
before I could no longer simply save it to my phone or computer?

can we go back—
to when even with a cap of 100 or 1000 texts a day,
my social circle felt bigger than now,
when I could still keep up with friends,
make plans,
hang out,
sneak out—
when semicolon and closed bracket simply meant a wink?

can we go back—
to before facebook or instagram swallowed whole pieces of my life,
when showing off my new clothes at school
was my quiet moment of swag,
not a never-ending contest for likes?

can we go back—
to the time before netflix, prime, or disney,
when one episode a day,
or even a week,
was enough to keep me waiting,
to make me feel the story,
instead of binge-watching until the magic was gone?

“Patience made the story sweeter — and the waiting was part of the magic.”

can we go back—
to before roblox took over my games,
back to when super mario or the snake game on my phone
were legendary all by themselves?

can we go back?
go back to the time before parks existed for kids from the community to play—
when adults didn’t need to be present to supervise?
when the streets in our own neighbourhood were our playground,
and the neighbours themselves played chaperones,
always watching over us?

can we go back—
before cell phones were always in hand,
before technology made it possible to video call people from miles away?
can we go back to when I could write a letter,
post it,
wait a week or so for it to be delivered,
and get a reply another week later—
yet still know how my dear one was doing?

while now,
cell phones don’t even give me a fair appointment with my friends.
reaching out ends in missed calls,
and missed texts.

can we go back—
to when I didn’t know so much about the world?
when the world simply meant a spherical structure
with different continents and countries inside it—
before I knew all the bad in the world,
before I knew we were killing each other
in the name of god
or origin?

can we go back—
to when we made friends for who they were,
not because of hidden agendas?
before I was made to think
that if someone’s religious beliefs didn’t align with mine,
I couldn’t be friends with them,
or that if they weren’t prosperous enough,
I couldn’t play with them?

can we go back—
to when festivals meant celebrating together,
being happy,
cheering with each other,
sending delicious food to one another?

“We celebrated together not because it was tradition… but because it was joy.”

can we go back—
to when I had dreams
and knew how to be happy,
how to laugh wholeheartedly—
before the monsters around me took my innocence away,
before overthinking took my natural self away,
and anxiety took away my ability to talk
or enjoy?

can we go back—
to simpler times—
when life felt merrier,
hearts were full,
and minds…
still ran at a hundred percent capacity?

can we???

-daisiesinmysoul