Thanksgiving is here and this means the holiday season is officially upon us. In many ways, this holiday season, like many in recent years, will be a difficult one for Americans. The American economy is still limping along long after the recession was declared over and a looming European economic crisis is not helping global morale. Unemployment remains high. Faith in politicians and even our basic political structures is low. And as a nation we have done little to address looming crises related to national debt, the health of American citizens, and the vitality of our planet. Thus, it is perhaps understandable that, as a collective, we may be lacking in that holiday spirit that is easy to conjure up when times are good. Does that mean we should downplay the holidays this year and accept that we are going to have to wait until more prosperous times before we can have those truly memorable holidays?

No. In fact, it may be that in times like these we need the holidays to be more memorable than ever. That is, the memories we form from special time celebrating holidays with family and friends may help us cope with present and future life uncertainties and challenges. Psychological research seems to suggest so at least. For example, in a series of studies I recently conducted with colleagues, cherished memories about the past (i.e., nostalgic memories; see my previous blog post on nostalgia) promoted psychological health and well-being. Across several studies, we observed that the more nostalgic people were about the past, the more they perceived their lives as meaningful. Critically, further studies demonstrated that for people who felt down (i.e., that life has no purpose or meaning), inducing nostalgia (asking people to reflect upon cherished memories) improved psychological well-being and reduced stress.