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Stories allow us to experiment with some of life's choices. The reader/viewer can decide to judge the characters and/or identify with one or more. There are usually, "What would I do" moments to think about and to see how they might play out. Stories facilitate thinking about subjects that tend to be messy and painful so are often shut down in ourselves. When we read about the messiness in other people's lives, we get a safe forum to think about how our thinking and behavior affects us and others in a way that has no immediate consequence—it is safe. When I first read the diary of Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl), I was a teen and I completely identified with Anne. When I reread the book as a mother of a teen, it read like a new book because I identified with Anne's mother. Both were powerful stories that prompted thoughts that have lasted decades.

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Thx for reminder walk down memory lane with Breakfast Club and Pitch Perfect!

I think I'll add them to the rewatch list of old films that are rapidly adding up on my notes.

Recently my sister and I, at exactly the same time, started telling each other about old films we have been revisiting. :)

We both wanted to lighten up some of our repertoire. In the midst of real world external terrorism, political turmoil, hate crimes and hate mongering we have just about had enough.

It's working for us. Pick and choose films that made us feel good and make them part of our entertainment diet! And of course there's always the part about we seeing a film many years old from a different perspective then when we first watched it.

Not unlike rereading a book we love!

Creating stories for the purpose of sharing positive events or at the very least interesting, makes a huge difference to world experience of life.

I am consciously deciding the use of my very valuable time and what I take in to my mind through experience. The good news is that whether it's my own factual experience or the experience of others , I believe it is experienced physically , emotionally and spiritually as our very own.

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Love these thoughts! I have become very aware of this dynamic as well. I read a lot of very heavy things, as you know, for projects I am working on. It can get to be a lot. Deliberately choosing things to read, watch, and listen to that change the mood is huge. We must compare notes on the things we are consuming to lighten the mood!

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🫠🤩

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Forgot to mention, I really appreciated the way you introduced the article with your own personal true story!

Also, the way you partitioned the subjects in this article. It made it easy to read/follow. 😅😁

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