Comment by beastcoast

2 days ago

My therapist frames this as "family of origin" (FOO) vs "family of choice" (FOC).

This is like the saying blood is thicker than water, but the the full version:

The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.

Sometimes you relationship with your FOC is stronger and better, because it is not built on genetic predisposition but rather it is a bond that you intentionally create.

  • Apparently there isnt much to back that up.

    Writing in the 1990s and 2000s, author Albert Jack[18] and Messianic minister Richard Pustelniak,[19] claim that the original meaning of the expression was that the ties between people who have made a blood covenant (or have shed blood together in battle) were stronger than ties formed by "the water of the womb", thus "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb". Neither of the authors cites any sources to support his claim.[18][19]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_is_thicker_than_water

  • Somewhat tangential, but from what I can see, the idea that "the blood of the covenant..." is the full version of the saying is a fairly modern invention.