Once, Twice, Three times and counting upon a couch

I consider myself an adult. Too often too willing to blow off responsibilities and chores, naturally, but 33 nonetheless. I wouldn't say it would be accurate to chalk up my fascination with magic and my belief in it to living a second child hood, either. I consider myself more of a realist than an idealist, and insist upon my reasonable reasoning of my beliefs based upon the chills I get up my spine when discussing them aloud, with or without others around. Not to mention, it's been 7 years since I discovered a show that reinforced the serious considerations of my inner world. And I still watch Once Upon a Time like a little girl who trusts that fairy dust isn't hard to find, you just have to know where to look. In the first episode of this quite remarkable and intuitive source of entertainment, they get straight to the heart of what I consider to be a lifestyle choice, and a rather rewarding one. One of the main characters, Henry, replies "that's exactly what makes it true," in response to an adult living in denial that "just because you believe something doesn't make it true." Stories are important. They are healing. We find parallels to our lives in them, be they lore of folk from long ago or modern day matrices. They help us process our own flaws and fears. I was raised on Disney and other precious adaptations featuring real people and impressive set designs, considering it was the eighties. The symbolism of each story never escaped me. It was encouraged that I repeat kindergarten, for many reasons, but the straw that turned the idea to gold was me asking my teacher, "You know when Belle got the beast up on the horse? How did she do that?" I always knew, deep within, the answer. The answer to strength, the answer to breaking a curse, the answer to surviving this "reality." Sure, the correct answer in the particular situation involving a four year old's distracted thought process is "that's just how it was drawn." But I was after something more meaningful. I was after what all the characters in this childish,to the point of cringing,yet enchanting series fumble for through each and every episode. The power of love. Real love. Not that self pitying poetry people spew out. Love is not pain or ache or fear. Love is the cure, the antidote, the answer. Love is magic. And magic is real. Once Upon a Time isn't actually that long ago. It's this morning, when you watched S3: E1 for literally the hundredth time and still, as if watching it for the first time, you get chills in what feels like every cell when they stop fighting and the weather clears. The fight within caused the fight without. And the title, "The heart of the truest believer," is enough to bring me to my knees. It doesn't even matter what it was they were believing in. That is part of the beauty. Pick your truth, and insist upon it. It is not unlike a shooting star. It will come true. Your nose won't grow and you won't turn into wood. You might get laughed at, but that's what makes being a single adult so special. You don't have to care or agree. You are old enough to make choices without considering the input of another. No one to talk you out of your experiences or laugh at you for honoring what you have seen and felt. No one to walk in on you at four in the morning after you've done your makeup to look like Rumplestiltskin and your laughing maniacally and mocking him, saying, "Congratulations on your little war!" in the reflection of the tv screen. True story. The point is, whether you have Peter Pan syndrome or you just remember what it was like to be a child realizing adults have lost their joie de vivre due to a loss or ignorance of sixth senses, "make believe" works and it's important to remind those grown. Pretending is the act of paving the path to the place you want to be. Even the evilest of queens can't fool or deter the wisest among us, not to mention they come around, sooner or later. I am forever grateful to the honoring of these timeless characters, where for forty three minutes at a time, I can be entertained by those that speak my language. They may be paid actors but the message they deliver is worth more and more real than all the riches in the realms.