27 Comments
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Khushbu Shah's avatar

beyond the fact that I love your writing (and your twitter), im so glad i've subscribed simply for that henry golding factoid alone

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Katie Valtcheva's avatar

Exactly what I needed to read this morning 💖

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Bolu Babalola's avatar

<3

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Georgia Gagan's avatar

So much to take from this, thank you for sharing your wisdom with us once again, particularly loved the “music is close to time travel” sentiment, and confirming what we KNEW are Henry Golding. Hope you had a fab birthday 💛

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Caroline Renard's avatar

Been having a writing mental block for a few months and this post was spot on. A reminder for me.

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Bolu Babalola's avatar

a reminder for us all <3

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Bethan's avatar

Thank you for your writing! I'm so excited we're getting another book from you. Happy Birthday xx

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Lillian's avatar

That last sentence is TOO GOOD!! Super excited for Sweet Heat! Also happy early birthday!!

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Bolu Babalola's avatar

thank you so much!

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ashley ray's avatar

love love love this but also you would love chicago beaches, it's just that you can only go 2 months out of the year

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Bolu Babalola's avatar

everyone is saying this! i want to go so bad!

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Nylah Iqbal Muhammad's avatar

I say this thing to myself. “Allah has removed all my fear of man or this world, everything else is merely anxiety” and it’s really helped me so much. Really glad you wrote about this 💕

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Bolu Babalola's avatar

This is really lovely!! And true! Nothing to fear when you're with God.

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Em G's avatar

Gorgeous piece as always. If you ever find yourself in the Midwest, I volunteer as your great lakes tour guide :)

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Jasmine Lewis's avatar

So beautiful and so resonant 🥺💕 Cannot wait to read more from this evolved version of you!!

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Praise Vandeh's avatar

Love, love. Unrelated or related (Twitter people use unrelated as a prefix these days and it appears I have been initiated into the cilt) but I feel like 20-year-old me and almost 24-year-old me are vastly different people. My friend looked at me the other day and told me I had changed so much. Lol and it scared me a bit cos I do wonder if people would also like this almost 24-year-old Praise, lol. Also, I'm here and will be here for every version of The Bolu Babalola. Can't wait for Sweet Heat!

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Bolu Babalola's avatar

oh you change so much between 20 and 25. And again between 25 and 30. It's all good growth! Thank you darling xx

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Nirvana's avatar

You captured my feelings on Bad Bunny so well. I love that I don’t understand it too. It’s quite emotional actually. I feel proud of him.

Also how did you react to Henry Golding? I once turned around from arranging a shelf to Boris Kudjoe asking me for a product recommendation and immediately became a different, flirtatious person - absolutely mortifying to discover the existence of an inner pick me groupie like that.

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Anjali Krishnakumar's avatar

Belated Happy happy Birthday, Bolu! You have a real knack for writing and words, and thanks for this beautiful share! <3 I've just shared your book rec with another friend of mine!

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maggie's avatar

not the point of this piece in any way but thank you!! so much!! for this everlane half zip rec!!! I am so comfortable rn

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Roya Shariat's avatar

Bolu's writing is a balm and we are so lucky to have it! Happy birthday, Bolu!!

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Ada & Art's avatar

I deeply understand wrestling with the tension between the current and past versions of you. The amount of changes we go through in our 20s, bruhhh!

And yes, Debi Tirar Mas Fotos is such a special album & I’ve had it on repeat all week. It’s such a special and meaningful body of work. My fave rn is Baile Inolvidable - that song makes me want to learn salsa well just to dance to it.

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