Fairy Tales & Reality

{Scenario: A two-hour journey home. Driving along a six-lane deserted highway alone bordered by desert on both sides.  Love songs continuously playing on all radio stations with brief interludes of love phone call messages to their partners.}  

I just dropped the family at the airport and was wondering about the non-stop sentimental songs. "Oh! It's Valentine's Day today."  I completely forgot. I thought about my deceased father. Valentine's Day was his birthday. Somehow during the drive, my pensive mind led me to think about fairy tales.  

Chateau du Chambord, France
I don't remember who read fairy tales to me when I was younger. Though Disney had their fair share of interpreting these romantic stories while growing up, I was more drawn by the places and wild adventures that happened in these stories. They made me see what's out there, beyond the world I was accustomed to. The stories of Arabian Nights, for instance made me want to discover the Arabian desert. (Fully unaware that I will be living in the Middle East one day).

I read an article once about how fairy tales and their symbolism reveal a hidden part of ourselves, like dreams.  How the story that most appeal to us can somehow be reflected in our life journey. The story that fascinated me the most when I was a child was-  The Princess and the Pea   by Hans Christian Andersen. I'm sure you've heard of this story. I didn't know whether it was the piles of mattresses on top of each other, but the story had always been with me. Then it struck me.  Decisions I've made in my life was that of someone who had been trying to prove her worth and her identity. 

I'm quoting a passage from an article -Learning About Ourselves Through Fairy Tales: Their Psychological Value  by Meredith B. Mitchell :

"To be attracted to or repelled by a fairy tale indicates that the story contains something that resonates with an unconscious process in the reader or listener, for one cannot be attracted or repelled unless one recognizes something that is personally meaningful. Recognition indicates the possibility of a healing awareness through discovery of processes imaged in the stories."

It's amazing how one story have this much impact to a reader.  

What was your favorite fairy tale?
Have you found specific patterns in the story
 that represent what you have been and/or you are currently going through? 

I am now aware that that chapter is finished.
I am to write my own journey.
Love is the center of it.

Happy Valentine's Day!
XOXO,
Arni

You Might Also Like

5 comments

  1. Breakfast at CindisFebruary 14, 2013 at 9:11 PM

    This looks like the Dowton Abbey castle.

    xo,
    Cindi
    Breakfast at Cindi’s

    ReplyDelete
  2. StephanieFebruary 15, 2013 at 4:14 AM

    I loved this post! Mostly because every fairy tale I read growing up, I 'd get so caught up that I was pretty convinced it was my life! Playing dress up lasted long into high school. :) I have a hard time picking a specific one and seeing if patterns have popped up down the road, but it's fun food for thought and I'm going to try and narrow it down!

    AND gorgeous castle!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sherry EllisFebruary 15, 2013 at 4:15 AM

    I took a college course on the symbolism of fairy tales. After that, I can't look at fairy tales the same!

    ReplyDelete
  4. JaneFebruary 15, 2013 at 10:32 PM

    You dad has a special place in your heart every Valentine's Day. That is incredibly sweet. So sorry for the loss... I love this post about fairy tales. I loved them growing up but I can't remember if I had one that I really loved. I actually got freaked out by The Red Shoes as a kid!

    ReplyDelete
  5. IreneFebruary 15, 2013 at 11:37 PM

    Beautiful post!
    I loved fairytales when I was a child and I still like them now. I had a beautiful coloured book with fairytaled from charles Perrault I really loved and I used to read it every night before going to sleep. I loved Red Riding Hood and Cinderella and I loved that Disney movie. I had never thought their influence in my life but it might be true that I somehow expected my life to be like a fairytale, waiting for someone to rescue me from myself.

    Sorry about your father's loss. My grandmother also has her birthday on Valentine's day. she just turnt 96!

    Hope that you had a lovely day :) And have a wonderful weekend!
    xoxo Irene

    ReplyDelete