WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers
If you’ve read as many fairy-tales, fables, stories as I have, you’ll know that making a wish is not as simple as it may at first appear. The magic lamp must be used with care. The generous flounder does its best to give the fisherman’s wife her heart’s desire, but it is not enough. The monkey’s paw is possibly the most troubling manifestation of a wish imaginable. Making a wish often leads to trouble.
Imagine that you really did find that magic lamp, or the talking flounder, or a mysterious ring … and you were able to wish for whatever you wanted. What would it be?
You might begin with the desire for something personal and important to you in the moment. Then you mull and mull, perhaps you sleep with the lamp under your pillow … and you wake up reflecting on the fact that, if you had only one wish, perhaps you’d better wish that your son gets accepted to college or Aunt Edna pulls through that operation…
Mulling still longer, chances are you’ll tell yourself that, given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this one, you’d better make a difference to the world at large. What would you choose: No more hungry children? Save the whales? End war for all time?
A wish is one of the most personal of all things, and the most social. It comes from deep within you, and goes outward into the world. As it moves from inside to outside, it creates and gathers goodwill and resonates with love, regardless of the consequence. There’s always something to be learned from making a wish.
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Fun Writing Practice
Write a fairytale that includes your opportunity to make three wishes. Consider these three wishes in three distinct ways: personal, family/friends, world at large.
1) State each wish as you move through the story – and why is it important to you.
2) Describe what happens once it is granted.
3) End with the consequence – whether it’s a moral to be learned or a peaceful “happily ever after.”
In order to relax and enjoy your way into this practice, write in a fairy-tale style. Begin with “Once upon a time …” and end fairly traditionally. In between, enjoy the details: the silks and satins, the rubies and emeralds, the archetypal characters, the magic lake. Elaborate on three wishes that you yourself would choose, if you were given the chance, and imagine what would happen if those three wishes came true.
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Daily Happinesses
- penguins diving into the sea
- planning presents
- getting along
- steamship trunks filled with exotic items
- people looking out for each other