Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty

I believe in fairy tales. There, I said it. I know it’s not a very manly thing to say, but I don’t care. Fairy tales inspire imagination, cultivate creativity and (perhaps most importantly) spark a sense of hope in ways that appeal to our inner child. And hope is a mighty powerful thing when it comes to imagination.

“The world is but a canvas to our imaginations,” said one of my favorite transcendentalist thinkers Henry David Thoreau. “Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” In my four people years of life, I have noticed a general laziness in the change department. It scares people. More importantly, it shuts down the hope that breathes life into imagination. Without imagination we can’t be the heroes of our own stories, American author Mary McCarthy once said.

I do believe in being the change we want to see in the world, so this is a thought worth pondering. There is usually no shortage of aspiring heroes in any fairy tale, but the ones I find most impactful are those who look within for strength.

“In every one of us there lies a sleeping beauty waiting to be awakened through love,” Sarah Ban Breathnach writes in Simple Abundance. “Your creativity, imagination, and authentic sense of style are far superior to any sorcerer’s spell, no matter how strong.”

So today I take a stand for creativity by looking within and embracing my imagination, no matter how embarrassing that might turn out for me. I dare to tell the truth about my possibly impossible hopes, dreams, and aspirations because belief in these things brings me the hope I need to imagine.

I believe all dogs go to doggie heaven. From what I understand about heaven, it is a place of perfection for believers. I am a believer who believes that if a person’s perfect world includes an animal, we have a place in heaven.

I will drive a car someday. I am a living, breathing testament that you can teach an old dog new tricks, and I want to learn to drive a car. Plus, I score a few manly points back for my fairy tale comment before. (Right?)

The animals on the television are real. My parents don’t understand why I always bark at animals on the moving picture windows in our house. Well, I’m sorry, from my perspective it looks and sounds like they are intruding into my forever home, and I have a problem with that.

I understand people conversations. Often I wish I could join in, but instead I listen. I value these moments.

I will write a book called 365 Days of Joy: From the Ground Up.  I have joy to share with the world and the impossible will not stop me. I need to believe it is possible to make it happen.

After all, I believe in fairy tales and their portrayal of life-changing unconditional love. Fairy tales inspire imagination, cultivate creativity and (perhaps most importantly) spark a sense of hope in ways that appeals to my inner puppy. And hope is a mighty powerful thing when it comes to imagination.

It’s time to wake up, sleeping beauties. It’s time to stop dreaming and start doing. What do you see?

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