Even as an adult, I love a good story. I still enjoy encountering the heroes, heroines, the dragons, the demons and witches of the fairy tales my father would tell us when we were kids. As time has gone by, I have come to see these well-known and well-loved characters in my life not just as mythical beings but as parts of the human psyche – shades of these are in all our lives as we struggle to make sense of the life we are gifted with and how it interweaves with the beings around us.
I remember reading Bruno Bettelheim’s book, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales as in college. As the years go by, I realize how much resilience, strength and wisdom I still draw from these enchantments.
I leave you with a quote from Neil Gaiman: “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”