What do you miss?

[Taffeta]

In a pony sense, I miss the mystery and excitement of going to a carboot sale and discovering ponies there, some of whom I hadn't seen since childhood or had never seen at all. I miss that more than buying ponies new in the shops, I think. I loved collecting in the middle-late 1990s, because of the lottery of not knowing who you'd find or how many ponies you'd bring home and add to your herd.

Also, online trading of back then, when ponies were still a legit currency in their own right.

I actually miss a time before Gen 3 and Gen 4, too. Not because I hate either generation, but because MLP has become a much bigger sensation OUTSIDE of the community since then, and I liked when it wasn't that way. I like collectors of all generations, but I don't like non-collectors shoving any old pony or fakie on ebay without bothering to ID it and calling it "rare" with a jacked up price because they know MLP is a "thing".

In a non-pony sense...I miss the days when everyone wasn't glued to their phone, as others have said. I think it was better when phones were just phones and you couldn't do a zillion things on them. I also miss a world without the annoyance of facebook, twitter and other social media sites. I am anti social, but I only use Facebook under duress to keep in touch with people I can't keep in touch with any other way, and I hate that being friends with someone has now been reduced to a button on a website.

I miss being able to sit down with a book or watch a TV show without having six million other things to do.

I miss the online seiyuu community and the haruka fandom that's kinda splintered apart and faded over the years. I miss being able to babble about my niche Japanese fandoms with people who share those fandoms, but the communities haven't really survived ><. That was also because LJ got overreached, I think.

Since I've spent part of today on my usual fight with the local bus company over their messing with our routes, again - I miss the days when we had a bus that worked, before this company took control and rewrote all the buses. We've been paying for that ever since, and since I'm reliant on buses because of my navigational issues, I'm not amused.

I don't miss school at all, but I do miss sixth form. I would say I miss uni, but I'll be there again soon. However, when I am, I will miss horribly the friends I made there the last time - especially one of my best friends in the world who is still stuck back in Delhi and who I havent seen since graduation ><. (I swear, sometimes I think I have FB JUST to keep in touch with her ><)

I miss a world in which things were generally simpler.

[PinkiePosh]

I miss summer break. I rarely got it because I was in summer school so often! I wanted to do all the things my friends got to do instead of going to school!

I miss being in love

[NoPonySpecial]

I miss when you could just turn on a video game and (besides the load times,) start playing right away.

I miss Zany Brainy. Did anyone else have those? It was an amazing toy store, and ours was about five minutes from our house!

I miss the town's miniature golf course. It was fun without being hokey, had a neat layout, the fountains weren't too big (yeah, I was a weird kid who was afraid of fountains ) and was right next to the water ice shop. When it was closed, the course was, not kidding, torn down to make an orthodontia clinic. Talk about destroying childhood joy!

I miss having a pool. Actually, I miss swimming in a pool. I don't miss all the maintenance.

I miss all the trees in the yard that have died over the years.

Most of all, l miss being able to sit on my floor and play imaginary games with my toys. I still come up with stories in my head for my ponies, Pokemon, etc, and I still buy things specifically to "play with," but sitting on the floor and getting the figures in my hand, I just can't bring out my imagination the same way I could as a kid. Like I can't stop seeing my carpet or bed  and see a mountain instead, or I'm too aware of that I can only make a handful of voices, or how small the playspace is now that I'm bigger, idk... whatever the reason I get major imagination block now.

[otocolobus_manul]

I'm afraid I really don't understand the missing the days before cell phones became big. I'm not always on my phone, but I do like really having it. I love being able to text people, instead of having to call! I love having a camera (even though it's not the best) for those random times where I don't have my real camera (or it's dead, which usually happens lol). I love having the internet on my phone!

Ever since I was really young, I always had to have something to occupy me... So I suppose that may be why. But when I'm out to socialize with people, I socialize with them more than I spend time on my phone.

Ditto. I love the convenience and relief a phone provides in boring moments (and I have ADHD, so those are fairly frequent with me). The Internet and electronics are how I first started branching out and conquering my fears of interacting with people, and now I can do it in real life as well. (When I first joined this site I was terrified to post or message anyone, and even before that I delayed joining out of fear. Certainly don't miss those days!  )

But what I do miss... I miss the simplicity of childhood. I miss being excited for things and having energy. I really miss having free time, and not constantly being overwhelmed. I miss my old dogs. I miss back when I actually wrote and drew and did creative things. While I wouldn't want to reconnect with who they eventually became, I miss the friendships I used to share with some people and how close we were. I miss when I read more. I really miss not being tired all the time.

[lordalexander74]

Most of all, l miss being able to sit on my floor and play imaginary games with my toys. I still come up with stories in my head for my ponies, Pokemon, etc, and I still buy things specifically to "play with," but sitting on the floor and getting the figures in my hand, I just can't bring out my imagination the same way I could as a kid. Like I can't stop seeing my carpet or bed  and see a mountain instead, or I'm too aware of that I can only make a handful of voices, or how small the playspace is now that I'm bigger, idk... whatever the reason I get major imagination block now.

Good gravy, this. Back when I was younger, me and my neighbors would clear out small sections of nearby woods, and arrange rocks/logs to make a makeshift fort. Brewing "potions" out of dirt, water, random plants. Exploring deeper into the woods. Going camping, on long hikes. You only get one childhood, don't' waste it.

The imagination thing hasn't really left me, I just can't express myself that well, at least in terms of art/writing. Doesn't stop me from imagining adventures/stories for various characters to take part in. Nothing like it was back in the days of one's childhood though.

[Kaeldre]

I miss the days when Neopets was privately owned/before it got bought out by Viacom

Being able to to crash at a friend's house for days on end during the summer, only going home to get clean clothes when I ran out.

Bumming rides to school in the mornings from friends who lived in my neighborhood so I wouldn't have to take the bus.

Having the free time to play video games all afternoon and into the wee hours of the morning and not having to worry about research papers, grades, college stuff, and adult responsibilities.

JNCO jeans

The Internet friends who have come and gone throughout the years.  One of them I still talk to every now and then, but most have grown up and we lost contact with each other.

Being able to walk down the street to my friend's house and spending the entire day there.  Her family is/was the absolute best!  Her aunt and uncle didn't care if I or other friends invaded their house and crashed in their theater room playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or Mortal Kombat all day.  They didn't care as long as we didn't leave a mess.  Said friend who lived in that house moved to Florida and her aunt and uncle are gearing up to move soon, and the other friends we used to hang out with went their separate ways as well.  Man, growing up bites.

[WickedWonderland]

I miss high school. Partially because I miss feeling like I had control over my life and that my efforts were respected, unlike in the workforce. The other part is I miss having close contact with my friends. Everyone kinda drifted off and moved away and did their own thing.

I miss living close to thrift stores and going pony hunting with my mom. I miss being more involved in collecting and the pony community in general.

I miss this group I had on another forum years ago. Those guys were, and two of them still are, some of my best friends, but we don't talk nearly as much as we used to.

I miss drawing. I miss reading. I miss experimenting with makeup. I miss cosplaying. I feel like I don't have time for anything anymore.

[BethyVic]

I miss being a kid and not knowing the serious things that happen in the world.

I miss being able to eat anything I want and not gain weight.

I miss the 80's toys that seemed better than the ones now (probably because toys were more magical to me back then)

I miss being able to play with toys for hours and never run out of imagination

I miss seeing kids playing outside everyday after school in the warm months without cell phones or fancy gaming systems (When I was little, SuperMario and the Duck Hunt game were the only games I knew of)

I miss the old Victoria's Secret, that catered to women and not teenage girls.

I miss Camp Snoopy, before it changed to Nickelodeon Universe.  (Minnesota based memory)

I miss walking around the mall and seeing people talking to each other, not with their heads bowed down looking at a screen

[ashes]

I miss my mom.  She passed away last Thanksgiving, and she was just an anchor in my life.  She was an amazing cook, had the best life advice to give, and was so, so generous to everyone around her.  But she was also opinionated, and let you know it, lol.  We would also go to the local flea market every month - we had done that religiously since I was around 7 or 8.  Now I take my kids, and it's bittersweet.

I also miss the carefree summer nights of my childhood - where my neighborhood friends and I would play kickball or ultimate frisbee in the street after dinner.  Playing with friends after dinner was HUUUUGE in the summertime, since we didn't get to during the school year.

I miss my friends from college.  We are still tight after all these years (and marriages and kids, lol), but it's a bummer that we live all across the country.  We do make time every few years to have a girls' weekend, and when we get together it's like no time has passed, but I miss seeing them everyday.

[banditpony]

I don't think I've stated what I've missed yet! I've been thinking about it for awhile now.

Obviously childhood, care free days, people etc etc

But, I miss a lot of non digital things. For instance, analog volume control and being able to turn the volume off when the device is off.

Rotary dial phones, and the real ring tone they produced with a bell.

I also miss the old noise (snow) on TV. I don't like the digital interference.

And when my eye sight was bad, looking at Christmas tree lights and what that looked like (like bokeh in a photograph, but in person and more amazing).

[DazzleKitty]

We used to own about 150 acres in Pike County, Illinois. I miss those days. It was totally isolated and country. My mom,dad, and I would all go there over the summer and every weekend and spend time. We're ride our Kawaski Mule through the woods and have BBQ's. We'd go to country fairs (where I found amazing ponies!) and to the Amish communities.  It was even more fun when my brothers came long.
We own a pullbarn/house there and I'd always bring my Nintendo 64 with me over the weekends and play Harvest Moon 64. Those were some happy memories for me. I wish my parents never sold that property. I wish we had it back. I have so many wonderful memories from there. If I ever win the lottery, I would buy it all back.

[ponycake]

We used to own about 150 acres in Pike County, Illinois. I miss those days. It was totally isolated and country. My mom,dad, and I would all go there over the summer and every weekend and spend time. We're ride our Kawaski Mule through the woods and have BBQ's. We'd go to country fairs (where I found amazing ponies!) and to the Amish communities.  It was even more fun when my brothers came long.
We own a pullbarn/house there and I'd always bring my Nintendo 64 with me over the weekends and play Harvest Moon 64. Those were some happy memories for me. I wish my parents never sold that property. I wish we had it back. I have so many wonderful memories from there. If I ever win the lottery, I would buy it all back.

A ton of land is my dream. I'd never sell it either!

[TwistedRiver]

I miss being "normal" even though normal for me was still odd for others.
I miss having magic as a part of my life like it was when I was a kid and my best friend and I had all these plans to go to care-a-lot, fantasia, and ponyland.
I miss the excitement of birthdays and Christmas and the way the air seemed to smell different on Halloween.
I miss the days when people didn't thing it was strange that I collected My Little Ponies and Dolls. xD

[LightingElectricDream]

I miss when we would go to the park and watch hotair ballons.

I miss all thoese neon clothesm

I miss seeing pinks and whites and roses as many little girls had
Thoese as themes and patterns.

I miss watching my little pony tales and care bears.

I miss being a kis haveing fun being happy all the time and not feeling like I am traped and depressed.

I miss polly pockets and ponies.

I miss family time before things got complacated.

[banditpony]

I miss when we would go to the park and watch hotair ballons.

I miss watching hot air balloons too! They used to fly close to the house, so I'd watch them on the balcony... Or the pool.