That would be pretty amazing and I suppose not impossible to imagine happening. History does run in fairly predictable cycles. I always wish I had been alive in the 20's when all of the American writers moved to Paris.
I know what you mean by being overly grateful for small things we once took for granted. Over this past summer all of the "firsts" felt incredible -- the first meal at a restaurant, the first visit to a mall (and I don't even like to shop), the first gathering with friends.
The post-truth era is tough, isn't it? It's difficult to trust anything when it's hard to discern what the truth is. I still think there's more good than bad in the world though. I think we'll get through this eventually but I think it'll be late 2022/early 2023 before anything close to what we used to consider "normal" returns.
Ah, me too. I went to Paris a few years back, looking to stay at Shakespeare and Company (which is a famous bookstore that housed the likes of Hemingway, Allen Ginsberg, Henry Miller, and countless others). I didn't manage to stay there, but I did stay around long enough to understand that I can go to Paris, but I can't go back to Hemingway's time, regardless how hard I try, unfortunately. So it is what it is.
You are so right, you can't chase the ghosts of the past. When I was younger I tended to overly romanticize the past and missed out on a lot of things in present moment.