Not to old for fairy tales

This is what I'd like to believe when I think of the TV show "Once Upon a Time" that has been my January delight. 

Sometimes I am wary of film or TV adaptations because if they are done in a  Disney's  like  way, the plot loses lots of the original's subtleties. But even though "Once Upon a Time" is inspired by the way Disney has visualized many of these stories,   it has its own unique touch. The characters, stories and symbols are mixed, intertwined and  so in a way it is a completely new story. But that is also one of the traditions of storytelling.

I love how the authors of the show have followed Snow White, Red Riding Hood and  others in their quest to tell us the well known stories from their point of view. We can go much deeper into their motives and emotions than in many of the adaptations.

In the  "Once Upon a Time" the fairy tale world reflects  the past that defines us and haunts us at the same time. The characters, who we  get to know  through the retrospection of their life back in the enchanted forest and their present life in the real world, make different choices, sometimes they overcome their weaknesses, sometimes they fall down.  So  there is always a  choice about how we want to act in the present and shape our future. 

And the roles that they played back in the fairy world- the princess, the evil queen, the warewolf- they need to overcome them in some way, recognize the gifts the role might carry but also its limitations. Find out who they really are.  To connect with the real world. 

I hope I will be able to do the same with my own fairy tale...

January blanket

January seems to be a month of excitement, vivid memories of holiday craze and starting new. But this year I am discovering its sadness. Maybe it's a sadness that comes from the fact that I recall all the failed new year resolutions from the past years? And that as much planning as you might do, growth isn't a linear process. I come back to the old issues, new come up...  Awakened by the holiday cards and wishes I also think of all the people I would like to see and catch up with. But then deep down I know might not  keep in touch as I would like to, or even worse meet up with them. 

It's not a kind of sadness that makes me panic though. I'd like to think of it as a sadness that is closer melancholy and nostalgia. A kind of blanket to wrap up in and stay still for  a while.

I lately learned that the first nations in America assigned a special meaning to January as a month of  dreaming. So I think of this month as a time to create a space for wrapping myself literally in a blanket each day and dream of who I want to be this year looking beyond lists, resolutions, promises and declarations,  even it means first being with this sadness for a while.

Guiding words

Take care of the one you love,
Take care of the one you need,
Take care of the one who needs you most,
Take care of the one you love.

These words come from Imany's song "Take care". I have been enchanted with Imany's warm voice and ambiance of her songs  since the end of last year, but this one struck me in a special way. Maybe because somehow the lyrics turn my attention to myself, not other people.  I want to take care of people in my life. But there is also a small whisper in my head saying "How about yourself? How can you care for others, if all these times you don't take care of yourself?" 

I don't know exactly what taking care of myself means. The answers will probably slowly come, if the question has appeared. As I think of this year I want to hum gently to myself "take care of the one you love, take care of the one you need"....