The Power of Fairy Tales
Once upon a time...there was a story. A story of a seemingly ordinary person from a less-than-ideal circumstance who discovers that they have an extraordinary ability to overcome a seemingly insurmountable challenge. The story is filled with adventure, magic, mystery, danger, mythical creatures, pure darkness, pure light, and true love set against the backdrop of a familiar, yet fictitious land.
It is a fairy tale.
Sleeping giant - just like my career
Fairy tales are the perfect framework on which to build a story that imparts wisdom upon its characters and watchers alike, disguised by fantastical surroundings. Thinly veiled though the lessons generally are, nary an objection is voiced when confronted with charming, magical elves, sexy, powerful vampires, and courageous, indomitable princesses. In fact, we love it.
While growing up I experienced an eclectic amalgamation of fairy tales. My Danish great-grandmother read to my half-Scottish mother the macabre stories of Hans Christian Andersen. She was, in her own Scandinavian way, attempting to calibrate the moral compass within my mother as she recounted stories like “The Red Shoes” and “The Little Match Girl” before she bid those red ringlets sweet dreams.
hey there little Red Riding Hood
I knew these stories as they were oddly nostalgic for my mother. Being the sweet woman my mother is, she was sure to intersperse these grisly tales with plenty of Disney happily-ever-after. Bypassing the obvious influence Disney tales had over my romantic life choices (which is a blog for another day), they were sunny stories for the most part. My mom is my mom, though, and being unable to escape her roots, Bambi (released in 1942, the year before she was born) was her genuine favorite. She shared it with my sister and I as a transparent parable, seeding in us respect for nature, kindness toward animals, and responsibility for our own actions. I’m not saying that’s why I’ve not eaten meat most of my adult life, but I’m not not saying that. What I am saying is that wisdom presented in a fantastical format embeds itself within us as it resonates with our creative selves.
GRimm Tales By Nerddoms Universe
As dark as “Pan’s Labyrinth” or as light as “Shrek,” as traditional as “Snow White” or as gothic as “Dracula,” as classic as “The Wizard of Oz” or as futuristic as “Star Wars,” the fairy tale framework transforms knowledge into an extraordinary tale, sparking our imagination and igniting within us the passion to create our own fantastical worlds.
TifDynamite