Lines to Love: In Pursuit of Magic
Fairy tales are very important. We need them because they reminds us of truths that are very simple, but so easily forgotten as we grow into adulthood. Fairy tales reminds us of the innocence of our childhood.
In the song Young at Heart, which I spoke of in this Standards to Love post, there are several lines on the importance of remaining young in our hearts:
“Fairy tales can come true…
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on its way…”
Possessing a mind that is limitless and able to entertain every possibility- whether plausible or not. Resilient in the face of failure. Boundless in the capacity to love. This is a picture of what it is like to be a child.
It is because of these qualities that children can envision the impossible as attainable. They imagine the grandest and most outlandish things, things that responsible adults consider foolish.
Consider how many children looked up at the moon and thought, I want to go there someday. At the turn of the 20th century, well-meaning adults would have dissuaded their children from such notions. However, a mere six decades later and those children’s dreams were a reality. Man had walked on the moon. And, make no mistake about it, somewhere someone who has held onto his/her inner child is hard at work trying to figure out how to facilitate lunar travel for us all. One of the world’s most prominent and influential scientists and mathematicians exhorts us in this, too:
Magic. It’s a possibility that too many grown-ups refuse to entertain. But the world is full of it, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. That’s why Einstein wants us to read kids fairy tales. In fact, I would venture to say that he would want us all to read them. For you see, if you’re reading your children fairy tales, your ears are hearing them, too. Don’t let these wonderful truths fall on deaf ears. Make sure you listen to the words your sharing. They have truth in them; truth about life.
Children are masters of one of life’s fundamentals: dreaming. I’ve already written about how important our imaginations are in my No Back-Up Plans Allowed post. Men who have achieved the unimaginable exhort us to embrace our imaginations are one of the most fundamental necessities. Why? Because of what Marianne Williamson says here:
Entertaining all the things that could go wrong requires the use of our imagination. However, it’s a misuse of the gift. Children intrinsically use their power to dream for imagining feats of greatness. Even if they construct elaborate stories with nefarious villains or daunting creatures, those imaginings always end with their hero/heroine being triumphant.
Children embrace fairy tales, and if we adults are wise, we will, too. Why? What do fairy tales do? Well, they do three very important things. The first is to remind us that lurking beneath our mature façade is the child in us with whom we should never lose touch.
The second is that even when it looks like all hope is truly gone, defeat is not final. Fairy tales are a reminder in the face of sorrowful failure that there is joy on the horizon.
And the third is that good always triumphs over evil. History might quibble with this, but if we let go of this truth in our hearts, our resolve to endeavor in the face of certain defeat will be vanquished and we won’t even try. And if we never try, evil will always win.
That’s why we must never let our hearts grow old. We must continue to read fairy tales because they will help keep us young at heart.
And if you don’t take the time to read those childhood tales, have no fear, a child somewhere in your life will come to your rescue. They are well-versed in how to be heroes and heroines.
So today, embrace your inner child. Let her/him have free reign for a couple of hours. Let yourself imagine a few things that you’ve put aside because they have seemed impossible. Entertain them again. Imagine them coming true. Throw yourself fully into the fairy tale of your choosing and just enjoy it.
And, on that note, what is your favorite fairy tale? And, perhaps, more importantly, why is it your favorite? (Stay tuned for mine…)
