When I came up with the title of this, I remembered a tweet from back in the day by Najma Shariff that was basically saying that people should develop personalities and ideas outside of the media they consume. This has nothing to what I want this newletter is about, it is a by the way.
Here is some media I have consumed recently and other pieces of media that I often go back to that I wanted to share.
YouTube Essays
The rest can be found on a playlist that I have created.
Books
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies - I really enjoyed this book and I told so many people as soon as I finished it. If you haven’t read it, get into it.
Everything Beth O’Leary has written - I do not like contemporary/romance books with ridiculous and unnecessary drama and Beth O’Leary knows how to do it right.
Anime
Fruits Basket - You know, from an outside perspective this whole show makes no sense but it is quite fun to watch.
I am in the “friendship, slice of life anime” era and therefore have enjoyed Blue Period, Kimi to Boku, Hachimitsu to Clover.
Love is practiced. It is not displayed.
I think one of the most insidious things that happens is thinking that we are not loved. That mindset of lack, of scarcity, of thinking we do not have something is so intrinsically tied to capitalism and our relationships suffer for it.
I think for now, I wish for all of us, to know that we are loved.