speaking of fairies

Books are beginning to take over the house and stories are beginning to fill my teeny brain to overflowing these days. Over the weekend I did a little of the life reconnoitering I was planning, and a whole lot of reading.

While we Greenes have always been a family of readers, I find myself become more and more aware of the important role books and stories play. To me, reading is a way to experience the world from home, provides insights into other worldviews and experiences, a way to confirm or solidify my own thoughts and beliefs and the best form of entertainment. Books are most certainly brain food.

Lately, I'm seeing a little renaissance happening in my reading habits. A re-awakening of my childhood fascination with fairy tales and folk stories. When I was younger I would read every book about faerie I could get my hands on; every poem, every description. And here I am again, reading these tales birthed in ancient stories and traditions again and enjoying them just as much as before.

I don't know if my reading patterns "mean" anything, but as I continue to fall down the rabbit hole I am beginning to tune into the idea that fairy tales teach us just as much as they entertain us. By creating allegory for the unexplained and inexplicable, fairy tales provide a window into the soul, be it light and airy or dark and scary. (How's that for poetry!)

I just happened on these two links today, both of them speaking of stories. I particularly like the New York Times one, as the connection to medicine really provides an interesting look at the sort of work I've been doing lately.

Practicing Medicine Can Be Grimm Work - Valeria Gribben

Fairytale Reflections - Joanne Harris

** They're everywhere, these accounts of the importance of story and myth! Let me add this artist's musings about fairy tale and nature, as well as her work on the cover of a book I'm about to order.

Dark Mountain - Rima Staines