On Nostalgia and rewatching things
Nostalgia makes ya feel nice
I notice that I tend to center a lot of my day-to-day activities around nostalgia: movies, TV shows, old commercials, etc. I even enjoy watching stuff from before my time, like old 50s-era television ads and movies.
I found a couple of articles that cover some of these ideas, and even though they aren't 100 percent related, they are close enough in how they work that they underlying feelings they create go hand-in-hand.
This article goes into why nostalgia works for us
Here's one quote from the piece:
Will Meyerhofer, a New York-based psychotherapist and author, says watching our favorite old shows can be a useful tool for dealing with anxiety and mild depression.
I notice that I tend to regress into places that felt safe in my childhood, such as classic videogames, cartoons and even snacks; really, anything that my mind associates with those memories. I wasn't conciously doing it, but it seems to be a common thing, and can help us deal with some of those issues like depression and anxiety.
This one talks about rewatching shows and movies you've already seen
This article is centered around the pandemic life, but I think it applied to me long before this. Actually, it probably applies to a lot of us. The general idea is that those who are prone to anxiety (and I would wager it includes those who require routine to function and not fall into deep feelings of anxiety) like being able to know what's going to happen and not have to process new information.
The article goes on to explain:
... rewatching a movie or show you really enjoy can be a simple way of controlling your emotions when your entire world feels out of control.
Really, it's a way to feel in control of some aspect of our lives. It makes a lot of sense from my perspective, as I notice that, even pre-pandemic, I spent much more time re-watching movies over and over again than I did ever checking out anything new.
The taco thing is similar. While on the surface, it seems like a bit of a joke, there's a part of it that stems from the familiarity of the food and the memories associated with waking up Saturday mornings to grandma's cooking and Saturday morning cartoons.