How can I be nostalgic about a place I've never seen?

It was an incredibly vivid dream. I was in a nice big, stylish office space with a sunny loft, skylights, and a balcony. People were moving boxes in and out, sitting at their desks, answering phone calls. There were plants, bookshelves, desks overflowing with papers and computers -- all the items one would associate with a busy, productive office.

"Wow, this place has changed a lot," said Eric. Eric, an ex-co-worker, was a large, handsome, muscular man with a crewcut. We were looking around this office where we had worked together over a decade ago, during the dotcom boom, at a small startup that had gone bust shortly thereafter. "Hard to believe its been ten years since we worked in this office." It had been a different company altogether, but the office space was the same. This was a place where we had sweated and worked hard, trying our best to realize a dream, even though the dream was swept away in the popping of the millenial tech boom. I felt the sharp pangs of nostalgia and memory that come when you see places and people from long ago.

Except: I had never in my real life seen this place, or any space remotely resembling it. I never knew anyone named "Eric" who looked like the guy in my dream, and I've never worked at a startup company. In the dotcom years, I was a little girl in school, not a worker in a company. The place, people, and memories were totally unfamiliar...yet vivid.

How could I have a dream like this, full of nostalgia for a place I've never been, a company I've never worked at, and co-workers I've never known? It was so vivid, too. Are these somebody else's memories? If so, why were they in my dream?

reply to post by KarensHoliday


Ireland is like that for me. Something about Celtic music that gets me sentimental. I have a mixed background (strong European heritage) and my grandfather's family was Irish. I've never been but yet, it's some where I feel very strong ties to. I know I have to go one day - soon!!

Perhaps it is a Past Life experience coming to the fore through your subconscious? Have you had other 'dreams' like this?

Originally posted by mindq
Perhaps it is a Past Life experience coming to the fore through your subconscious? Have you had other 'dreams' like this?

No, never had another.

And everything was modern and new, it couldn't have been a past life.

reply to post by KarensHoliday


I have experienced a similar sensation in a past dream of mine. It is difficult to describe, but I think you have done a decent job.

If you believe in the Multiverse Theory, then it could have been a preview of your life in a parallel universe.

reply to post by KarensHoliday

How could I have a dream like this, full of nostalgia for a place I've never been, a company I've never worked at, and co-workers I've never known? It was so vivid, too. Are these somebody else's memories? If so, why were they in my dream?

In all honestly my current "life" here feels like a brief deja vu moment. My recent dreams have been echoing themes much like the dream you have posted. The other night I found myself "going to school" but this school was not like my current campus. This one was more advanced, with the rooms looking more like something you would expect to see in a NASA control room

I would also meet people who I know I should have "known" but had no idea.. just went with it

Mine also had some pretty "strange" dream elements to it.. for instance, me and others brought our Cats with us to this school.. LOL No idea about that one.

Perhaps "our" life is just the dream of someone else?

Maybe someone "out there" in this world, is living that dream life you just had.

Following that "logic" your "life" would be that persons dream.