Iam a writer. But this is not how I usually write. Normally, I write fiction, using my words to form pretty pictures, developing images with things like alliteration and personification and all of those other technical terms that most people forgot after fifth grade.
I write stories. My favorites are fictitious, ones about imaginary people in imaginary places, ones about monsters and castles and talking birds and knights in shining armor. I prefer fairy tales, obviously. Who doesn’t just love a good, old-fashioned fairy tale? I just love it when the prince saves the princess from the evil dragon, or when the fairies guide the way of the hero through the darkness. Good vs. Evil, princes and princesses, happily ever after.
I see all of that in everyday life. I have a grandmother who lives over the river and through the woods, just like Red Riding Hood. That girl in front of me at the grocery store, the one with blond hair down to her waist, could be Rapunzel! Maybe she is just waiting for the right man to come along and whisk her away. The guy who sits next to me in chapel, the one who runs out as soon as the bell rings, could be a warrior prepped for battle against a mighty dragon. Or maybe he is dashing away to find his true love who is singing to the birds in the trees of the Great Lawn (otherwise known as the front lawn). Or maybe not.
Maybe I have an overactive imagination. Perhaps I am a perpetual liar making excuses and delusions out of nowhere. Maybe I am just weird.
But whatever I am, I love it. Because I find hope in it.
Because Cinderella’s dreams come true. Because Pinocchio can be a real boy. Because maybe one day that girl will kiss me and I won’t be a frog anymore.
When I write, I find myself putting hope in those places where the darkness has overwhelmed and misery has settled in. Misery has unloaded his bags into the heart and made a nest there. It’s my job, as the writer, to say, “Misery, it’s time for you to go. You are in the way. Pack up your bags and hit the road, because I am about to make this character’s dreams come true.”
Hope is not far away. It’s not in a fairy tale, not in a book, not in someone else’s life. Hope is right here, in real life, in my stories, and I can see it all around.
