The heart wants a sequel because the heart hates endings. But a sequel is only good if the conflict is new, the characters have grown, and—most importantly—you are not just terrified of watching a different movie.

It depends entirely on whether you are trying to get your old needs met by an old person, or whether you have become a new person capable of meeting new needs.

The most successful romantic storylines of this era are not those that pretend the past didn’t happen, nor those that are enslaved by it. The winners are the couples who treat their history as a prologue—valuable, heavy, and edited. Is a relationship with ex a good idea in 2024?