ABOUT
If you'd asked my 7-year-old self what I imagined my dream 30-year-old life would be like, I would (after being thoroughly disgusted by the thought that I would someday be as ancient as 30) probably have said something to the effect of: "Married to my Prince Charming and decordating our castle in my glass slippers!"
After all, isn't that what childhood fairy tales teach little girls about getting one's happy ending? The only way to escape a tedious life of serving pint-size miners/pandering to horrendous stepsisters/turning one's unnaturally long locks into tower-climbing equipment is for Prince Charming to come along and whisk you away from it. From the moment we hear the words "Once upon a time", the seed is planted that Prince Charming has to gallop into our lives before we can "live happily ever after."
The last time I checked, I hadn't been whisked off into the horizon by Prince Charming yet. But life has been pretty darn good. In fact ... why ... can it be? Did I have the nerve to start living happily ever after all on my own?
It's not that I hate men. On the contrary, I quite like them and I'm just trying to relieve them of this pressure that ultimately, a woman's happiness relies fully on them. And it's not that I'm scoffing at the idea of love. I love being in love. But I don't subscribe to the idea that one's happiness is contingent on how quickly Prince Charming swoops in and seals the deal. I think that Prince and I will ultimately have a better shot at getting to ever after if we're already both happy to begin with.
With this blog, I hope to expand my definition of what it means to live happily ever after by relishing the joy to be found in the here and now. I'm traveling the world, living in the city of my dreams, and have on occasion slayed a figurative dragon here and there—despite not having fulfilled the Prince Charming prerequisite. Wouldn't it be nice if my 7-year-old self could've known this was possible and come up with a more colorful dream somewhere along the lines of:
The last time I checked, I hadn't been whisked off into the horizon by Prince Charming yet. But life has been pretty darn good. In fact ... why ... can it be? Did I have the nerve to start living happily ever after all on my own?
It's not that I hate men. On the contrary, I quite like them and I'm just trying to relieve them of this pressure that ultimately, a woman's happiness relies fully on them. And it's not that I'm scoffing at the idea of love. I love being in love. But I don't subscribe to the idea that one's happiness is contingent on how quickly Prince Charming swoops in and seals the deal. I think that Prince and I will ultimately have a better shot at getting to ever after if we're already both happy to begin with.
With this blog, I hope to expand my definition of what it means to live happily ever after by relishing the joy to be found in the here and now. I'm traveling the world, living in the city of my dreams, and have on occasion slayed a figurative dragon here and there—despite not having fulfilled the Prince Charming prerequisite. Wouldn't it be nice if my 7-year-old self could've known this was possible and come up with a more colorful dream somewhere along the lines of:
Because that's where I found myself at age 30 ... and if that can't count as one way of living happily ever after, then we really need to expand what that idea means, don't you think?
So what's your definition of happily ever after?
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