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Psychologist Gabriel Rolón: “It is valid to recognize happy moments from the past, but what happened is already lost”
🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

Psychologist Gabriel Rolón: “It is valid to recognize happy moments from the past, but what happened is already lost”

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • Psychologist and writer Gabriel Rolón said people can become trapped in idealized memories or in the expectation of future happiness.
  • He described memory as an edited reconstruction that can make past relationships, childhood and lost loved ones appear better than they were.
  • Rolón urged people to value the past without abandoning the possibility of building happiness in the present.

“There are people who would rather have been happy than be happy,” psychologist and writer Gabriel Rolón said in an interview with La Nación. His reflection focused on the way people move between nostalgia for the past and expectations of a better future while missing the present.

There are people who would rather have been happy than be happy.

— Gabriel RolónThe psychologist warned that people can become trapped in nostalgia or in expectations of future happiness.

Rolón described memory as “particular and enigmatic,” a place where people keep what they have lost so death does not take it away forever. But he also warned that memories do not remain untouched. “We do a kind of editing, a photoshopping of memories,” he said.

Over time, people may idealize certain moments, relationships or periods of their lives. Parents who have died can become nobler and more sensitive in memory, he said, while childhood can turn into a more beautiful place than it really was. The danger comes when people cling so tightly to that reconstruction that they stop trying to build happiness in the present.

We do a kind of editing, a photoshopping of memories.

— Gabriel RolónHe explained how people may idealize past relationships, childhood and lost loved ones.

Rolón said it is valid to recognize happy moments from the past, but added that “what happened is already lost.” Those memories still matter because they give life meaning and help people understand the path they have taken, the effort they have made and the relationships they have built. They should not, however, prevent the search for present well-being.

What happened is already lost.

— Gabriel RolónHe said past happiness can retain meaning without becoming a substitute for present life.

“Let’s not get off life before our time,” he said. Rolón also defended projects and dreams, explaining that he does not criticize people who hope for future happiness. His warning is against continually postponing the possibility of feeling well now. “Let’s try something here, now,” he said, concluding: “We are what we do with what they made of us.”

Let’s not get off life before our time.

— Gabriel RolónHe urged people not to abandon the possibility of building well-being in the present.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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