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One of the sweetest texts I’ve ever gotten 🥺

@sidewaystime and I have been discussing the difference between favorite texts (books, movies, tv shows, etc.)- which is to say, the ones you love the most- and formative/foundational texts- the ones that have shaped you.

And I get why we talk more about favorites; we love them and they make us happy.

But I am so much more fascinated by the foundational and formative texts. The ones that disappointed you at the time with a plot twist that undid your favorite aspects, or the ones that felt so important at the time but in the context of the present day you can’t rewatch because society has progressed and you now see all the parts that you didn’t even know to be upset by at the time, or just the ones you’ve outgrown.

I think there’s often shame associated with formative and foundational texts, because they aren’t who you are as a person now. But you wouldn’t have become the person you are now without those texts shaping you, and setting you up to move beyond them.

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