Looking at my art and designs you might think that I am a card carrying fairy tale fanatic but I actually have sort of a love/hate relationship with fairy tales. I, like so many girls, was raised on them and they did indeed cast a spell on me that will probably never fully be lifted. The older I get, however, the more my perspective on them changes.
For example, when I first saw “Snow White” as a little girl, I was so frightened by the evil queen that I ran screaming out of the theater. Now (thanks in no small part to Disney's expert marketing) I find the “Villains” of these tales more likable or at least more sympathetic than I ever expected to.
It's actually the Princesses that frighten me now. They just have so many issues. Cinderella has low self esteem, there is something not right with Snow White and don't even get me started on that lazy Sleeping Beauty. I mean sure, they are all nice people who deserve their happy fates but they just don't seem that motivated to me. In fact, if it wasn't for their princes or their fairy godmothers, they would have been in real trouble. Truly, I would be surprised if their “happily ever afters” were achieved without at least a few years of therapy.
The bottom line is, these women were poor role models for me. I think I am perfectly justified in blaming them for spending far too many years waiting for a Knight on a shining Harley to show up and rescue me. Eventually, however, I realized I wasn't nor did I want to be a princess in need of saving.
And yet, I still want the fairytale. I just figured out that the ruby slippers work better than the glass ones. I want to be less like Cinderella and more like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” these days. Dorothy didn't need a prince or a fairy godmother to save her. All she needed was a good role model to remind her of the power she already had within her. I think ultimately, that's all any of us really need to create our own happily ever after.
So yes, I believe in fairy tales but more than that, I believe in me and I believe in you.
To Wonder Is Wise (Appeasing The Muse Wk1) Poster by Victoria Lynn Hall
