Welcome to Two Truths, a bestselling newsletter & media brand exploring the many truths of motherhood from journalists & maternal health advocates Cassie Shortsleeve & Kelsey Haywood Lucas of Motherspeak. Two Truths is rooted in the healing & affirming principle that two (or more) things can be true. It’s a “best parenting Substack” per Motherly and The Skimm says you should subscribe; also seen in Fast Company, Vox, The Bump, Popsugar & more.

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Nostalgia.

To us—and to you, too, we’re guessing—it’s a feeling.

Maybe it hits you out of nowhere; the moment you lie down to stare up at the clouds with your toddler and are instantly transported to a time when you were a small child in the great outdoors; a specific moment when boredom—and all its opportunities for wonder—still existed. You can still taste it on your tongue: Fun Dip; the way tiny freedoms once hit so differently.

Or maybe it’s something you chase: the fuzzy feeling of late nights sans bedtime routines; quiet morning coffees; or the baby years, once they’re in the rearview mirror.

Life is messy. Emotions are too. Sentiments—of what was and what is, of longing for yesterday and appreciating today, of grief and of happiness—live together. Sometimes always.

We can’t experience nostalgia when we’re in it; the present moment will always be clouded by chaos, logistics, and the distractions of daily life. But someday, it’s likely you’ll long for—become nostalgic for—the exact days you’re in right now.

Every year, we publish an issue on nostalgia—what it is, and how we keep it, make it, and return to it, and maybe, most importantly, how we let these planes of existence, of time, coexist in harmony.

We hope you enjoy this year’s rendition—and the upcoming Labor Day long weekend—no matter what bubbles to the surface for you.

Nostalgia, defined

Nos·tal·gia

Noun. A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. 

—Oxford English Dictionary

On the timing of nostalgia

There’s a reason nostalgia hits when it does. In The Emotional Calendar, psychiatrist John Sharp, M.D., explains how certain seasons, months, and anniversaries can trigger emotional responses. Our experiences are etched into our brains.

The end of summer creeps