A new day, a new speculation.
Here's a thought that sneaked up on me. Do you recollect the anecdotes we have grown up listening to or the ones we sometimes start with a sarcastic reference?
Once Upon A Time...
Wh(y) have we not had them at the same time as when the story is being told in?
In a Kingdom, Far Far Away...
Wh(y) have we not found a single pin/or a location map to point us to this fabulous kingdom?
There lived a...now here's the chaff...old or rich or powerful king/ young or little or distressed princess/ lonely or wicked queen/ and small or poor boy/girl (or whatever mums & dads/ or grandmom or grandad deemed most relatable to the eager little unquestioning listener.)
As we mature, we, very evidently come to recognize that these were mere tales that were weaved out of unique inventive minds, and the ones with the most heart, have stuck around for years and years to only be passed down to the generations to follow.
My personal picks of the lot, would have to be, The Little Mermaid, Mowgli's Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland (a million times, yes), Beauty and The Beast, Peter Pan (& his Neverland)...I'm sure you get the gist because the list pretty much goes on and on.
I am not even slightly embarrassed to admit that, I, even as a thirty-year-old fully relish, drench, and immerse myself in these stories.
However, as a thirty year old, with a little more understanding of the world (or so I'd like to believe), I seek logic in these tales.
How do we know that the evil queen, wasn't someone that was actually maybe lovely, but got converted to a badass, evil-being because of the harsh, cold nature of The Faraway Kingdom?
How do we know that Prince Charming remained unchanged and ever-charming?
How did the princess know and believe Prince Charming was really him, and not the big bad wolf in disguise, who was trying to set an impression (like most of do when we are initially trying to impress someone).
How do we know there was a happily ever after/ and not a rollercoaster after?
How do we know?
This is just the surface of my wonderments.
Inspite of being a complete sucker for fairytales, and fantasy, I still can't help but wonder, are we suckers for happy endings, or are we being programmed all wrong? Even after knowing that the stories told to us are fiction, we still grow up looking for hints & pieces of those stories to happen to us. Maybe, just maybe, we are programmed with the wrong expectations.
We grow up with the notion, that there will always be a happily ever after, a notion of how things should be, a vision of the big bad wolf, or the evil queen, etc.
It got me thinking, wouldn't it be absolutely wonderful, to have been told stories of the errors and progress that our parents made, or of their friends, or of our grandparents, with patterns that underpinned reasoning.
Stories of real people, from a real time, at real places, with real solutions, real consequences, and real endings...or might I suggest real pick-me-ups. Aren't we all really looking for stories with real heart, relatability, that conclude to a ray of hope that keeps us going to battle our demons away, until we have found a sparkling solution?
In the end, each of us have stories to tell, and each of us are storytellers...we constantly tell stories, to others and to ourselves. Why, might I ask, share a story from far far away from once a upon time, when your very own, could potentially be shaping someone else's.
Impart your own tale, the real-life version, to only detect how much of pixie dust & sparkle you have been living.
Side-note: I am not shunning fairytales away, not at all. I am only suggesting, why not, along with sharing the age old fairytales, that end with profound victories, nurture the little minds to learn from the realness of life, that they are inevitable to experience.
I could keep ranting on and on, but to conclude, thanks for listening to my super short story, and the "y's," attached to it. I am now going back to looking for Tinkerbell, or at least try figuring a map to Neverland.
Au Revoir,
Stories by Giggles
Ps: For those who are wondering, I've definitely found my Prince Charming, in the form of a Modern-Day Nawaab, and we are very much journeying our version of happily-rollercoastering-expeditions together, whilst battling the occasional punches that life throws our way, all with the constant love of genies amidst us.