This was supposed to be a blog post about story tropes I enjoy but, given the state of the universe, I don’t really feel like writing about that. I just want to talk about happy endings.
If you have a pulse, you know that America is not in the best place right now. I’m not in a position to give my political views but know that I’m worried about a good amount of our population, including all of my friends both old and new.
I’ve done as much as I feel that I can, but it doesn’t feel like nearly enough–nothing short of saving the day ever does for me–so I haven’t been in the best mood this evening. To make myself feel better, I’ve been listening to a Disney playlist while I cook and clean for the past few hours. These take me back to stories I’ve returned to a hundred times for comfort. For me, they are nostalgic reminders that there is still joy, beauty, and laughter in the world. They tell me that happy endings are possible, no matter the odds, every time I rewind the VCR (and yes, I still have a few on VCR! Can you believe it?).
In the real world, we don’t know when our happy endings will come or what they will look like. We don’t know what we’ll sacrifice along the way or how long they’ll last, so sometimes it’s nice to take a break and visit a word where those happy endings are guaranteed and pretty close to perfect.
Obviously, the Disney happy endings aren’t everyone’s ideal escape. For some, it’s secret agents catching the bad guys. For others, it’s the adventurous space explorer saving the galaxy. Maybe it’s the girl finally meeting the man who loves her for who she is. It might even be a true story of someone overcoming enormous odds. Your image of a happy ending could be a full blown celebration or a silver lining on a rainy day. What ever it is, we as a people always need more happy endings, so why not go out and create more?
By all means, do what you need to do to help. Call your congressmen. Donate to your favorite organization. March. Do what you need to do, but if you have it in your heart to tell stories, do that too. Don’t ever believe that your story is too small, too big, too simple, too complicate, too anything to tell, because I can promise there’s someone out there that’s going to be grateful for it one day. We all need to take a break and indulge in happy endings, so do the world a favor and write the one you’ve always wanted to write. After all, you can never have too many points of light, especially in the dark.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to Tay for sharing this piece with us that was posted on her site.