I am in a good place today; such a great place. My dreams are falling into a whimsical reality before my very eyes and I could scarcely ask for more without being terribly overwhelmed, and half-scared, that it could only go down from there.

Over two years ago, none of this was so. Not at all.

After stumbling upon my deepest desires by the age of nine, whether or not I knew what they even meant, I found myself broke, jobless, homeless, loveless, and entirely depressed at the age of 22. After two years of building and striving a story too verbose and detailed to tell presently became my reality and left me a miserable girl. I was in such a state that I cried constantly (very unlike me, I might add) and couldn’t even bring myself to wash the dishes. I refused to move back home, felt like a complete failure, and made a home for myself between my cousin’s bed and poor Jennika and Tanya’s couch that wheeled off throughout the night into eight different directions. This experience, for whatever reason, affected my confidence and joy so deeply that it took an assiduous year to recover.

I am unsure whoever coined the phrase, “These are the best times of your life” and equated that to one’s teens and twenties, but I am certain they only decided that from the safety of a faraway bird’s eye view. I believe that because the hardest times are the most bittersweet. Pain brings a sort of wisdom and peace that only the most thoroughly gorgeous people experience- if, and only if, they chose to use the aching in the way it was intended.

As I said, the details of my own experience are not the subject of this particular piece. Besides, the tale is doubtful to evoke much sympathy; looking back, the account is not that horrific. But, what it did was attempt to destroy the inner pieces of me. What I would love to share is a classic story that depicted just this sort of dismay more fully.

At some point after my year had concluded, I visited home sweet home on the east coast. I immediately felt a distinct knowing in my heart that God wanted me to watch Sleeping Beauty. So I went downstairs, dusted off our copy, and headed for the VCR. Although a children’s fairytale, please bare with me as I hope you see your life reflected in the film’s glassy exterior…

 by Starlightblood

In the very beginning of princess Aurora’s life she is betrothed to a prince and given a specific set of blessings at her christening. The fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather arrive with wands in hand. Flora blesses her with beauty and Fauna blesses her with song, both of which would draw in the prince; in other words, Aurora was born with everything that her dreams would require in order to come true.

Suddenly an envious, hateful, and incredibly powerful Maleficent comes to destroy the princess. The self-proclaimed “Mistress of Evil” curses Aurora that she would die from the prick of a spindle on her sixteenth birthday. Aurora’s royal parents are devastated but alas, Merryweather’s blessing still remains unspoken. Unable to rid the curse entirely, Merryweather preserves Aurora’s life by turning her ultimate death into a deep sleep, only to be awakened by love’s first kiss. Still in fear, the princesses’ parents demand that all spindles be destroyed and they send her to live with the fairies until the ill-fated day has passed…

 by The Crazy Spork

Therefore Aurora spends her entire young life in the forest having no idea that she is a royal princess. Finally, on her sixteenth birthday, she sees her ultimate desire before her very eyes. Prince Phillip hears the princess’ enchanting voice and is enthralled by her divine beauty. The feeling is mutual and they agree to meet soon, leaving Aurora to flee home to proclaim her newfound love to the fairies. The beauty is overjoyed but met with sobering news: the fairies explain that she is actually the princess and will now be sent back to the castle to marry a prince she was promised to as an infant. Soon thereafter, comes the scene that struck me more deeply than most films ever may.

Aurora is devastated and cannot contain her tears. Although she is ushered into an enormous and stunning room, it is impossible for her to notice anything at all through the fog of her soaking eyes. Saddened, the fairies agree to leave her to grieve in peace. In a hauntingly slow manner, Maleficent opens the near fireplace into glowing tunnel. The radiant emerald beckons the princess and she, arms outstretched, follows the glimmering ember up a long, turning staircase. Unbeknownst to Aurora, the path she chooses to follow promises much but actually leads to her very destruction. She pricks herself on the spindle that awaits her and falls into a deep sleep. Naturally, the story continues, the prince kisses the princess, and they live happily ever after. However, there are several profound points worth noting before we close the book.

To begin Aurora, as I said, was blessed with every talent she would ever need to draw in her true love as an infant. Biblically, I must believe that this truth is in all of us, that our deepest desires were betrothed to us since before birth- as we were woven in the womb, and that to remain so pure would be to see all of those things come to pass.

Secondly, Aurora was not living as a princess but always was nonetheless. It is not just “writer” or “actress” or “doctor” or “mother,” it’s not a career but the essence of a person that the “princess” stands for. It’s the encouraging thought that whether or not we are capable enough or healthy enough to be entirely ourselves at this very moment, that it is in us somewhere and has been since forever nonetheless.

Lastly a beautiful but sorrowful Biblical quote is brought to mind: Hope deferred makes the heart sick. In truth, the reason it took me an entire year to heal from my personal “series of unfortunate events” was due to hope deferred, just like Aurora. She could only be lured into Maleficent’s hold because she had abandoned all hope. Her eyes were downcast and due to her limited view she could only perceive that she had failed and would never receive her heart’s desire. The kicker? The mysterious man in the forest and Prince Phillip were the same person! Aurora felt she was losing everything when in fact she was simply being brought directly to what she dreamt of all along. And it was even more incredible than she could ever imagine. Not only would she have her love, but it would also be in a castle with a crown on her head!

All in all, please take away the following truths:

One has always had everything one needs within and the purest desires are meant to be. In other words, there’s no guarantee one should succeed at a career because it’s fancy or a marriage because one’s partner is gorgeous. I’m talking about those desires a heart has skipped a beat for since birth, when a heart was 7 and was asked,” What do you want to be when you grow up?”

And perhaps most importantly, never lose sight just because times look bleak. My painful year was heartbreaking and discouraging, to say the least. But, only- if only- I could’ve peeked into the future! Every moment and every loss strengthened and bestowed deeper joy and life experience than I could’ve ever had in simplicity and “happiness.” I was given even more of the tools I needed to succeed and I was right, my dreams did slip away. However, they didn’t disappear, they came back more full, deep, and pure.

Awake any slumbering hearts! Life was not made to disappoint. Wake up, Sleeping Beauties.