In honor of reaching 600 posts on Blogger I am re-posting an entry from 2011. It's one of my favorites and every word is still as true today as it was when I wrote it.
I watch the new television series ‘Once Upon A Time’ and I’m not going to answer the obvious question of why. Instead I’m going to pose another question…why aren’t you?
One of the main characters is a small boy who is in therapy because he believes the entire town is cursed and every person in it is actually a fairytale character. Only they don’t remember who they are. On the last episode his psychiatrist (who is actually Jiminy Cricket) asked him why he needed to believe this so desperately. His answer?
Because this can’t be all there is.
That one phrase is why I write the stories I do, and read the ones I love. It is the single most defining and brilliant answer I have ever heard to describe the deep need to believe in more than just what we can see with our own eyes. It is why all things fantasy, high and low, urban and whatever else you want to label it holds my attention like no other story can.
This can’t be all there is.
When a suburban housewife can write a story that induces a hysteria of emotion in 99% of the teenage female population, or a single mother can create an entire world of breathless magical possibilities from a jotted outline on a napkin, or a struggling English teacher can become the foremost authority on all things horror…it proves magic does exist. It’s in the words. Our wand may have Bic written on the side but it is filled with power. One simple truth burns within to guide us onward.
This is not all there is.
I watched the first couple of episodes but then forgot to watch after that. It's a really clever idea, and I love the actor who plays Rumplestiltskin (spell check says I spelled that wrong :P).
ReplyDeleteAnd you know for the rest of the day I'm going to be waving my Bic pen at people and threatening to turn them into toads. :)
I love this post. You just reminded me why I write. :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice blog...is that cute little guy yours?
ReplyDeleteNEW FOLLOWER
Elizabeth
http://silversolara.blogspot.com
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAnd you did have to link to Full Episodes, didn't you? No excuses now...
I love Once Upon a Time :) and I love your reason for writing. I have a different reason, but perhaps it could just be boiled down to a single truth. but it's midnight and I'm not going to work my brain to figure out what that is just yet.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Marsha. We do have our own kind of magic as writers, don't we. Thanks for reminding me of that. =o)
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. :)
ReplyDeleteI watched the pilot, have the next episodes sitting on my DVR waiting patiently for me to get to them.
ReplyDeleteI love that my wand says Bic Atlantis.
Loved this post. New follower :)
Great post. Thank you.
ReplyDelete(I love that show, too, by the way.) :)
I haven't watched that show - no satellite :( - but I would if I could and I concur with everything you said. Writing is as close to wielding magic as I may ever come.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this. Could not agree more.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an encouraging post! There is so much more to our lives than we can see at first glance. Underneath the cookie cutter existence we all feel like we're stuck it, there's a web of emotions, desires, dreams, and longings that bring new life into an old story. And when you combine people and places into stories while looking at that new depth, you have something even more exciting. So yes, I agree. There's so much more to life than we see. :)
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