my life as a fairytale

Recently, at a workshop on writing memoir, I was invited to retell a story from my life as a fairytale. Here is what I wrote.

Once upon a time in a land of wide open spaces lived two wizards of healing. Their lives were very busy selecting potions and offering healing spells to all the people in the village. They had four offspring very close together. The eldest of these was a girl named JenMidge.

JenMidge was a strong and capable daughter who had many talents and was especially good at helping other people. As was customary, in the village where they lived, every person was given a special cloak to make the most of their talents.

Being very proud of their first born, her parents gave JenMidge the cloak of Responsibility, a beautiful garment made of soft maroon velvet.

In the beginning, JenMidge wore the cloak of Responsibility with much pride. When she walked in the streets, she stood tall and enjoyed the status that this mantle conferred on her.

But as she grew older, JenMidge was drawn to the cloaks worn by other people. She envied the cloak of beauty worn by her best friend. She was both attracted to and a little fearful of the cloak of adventure worn by her younger brother. But the cloaks that she admired most were the colourful cloaks of artistry and creativity.

The more she looked at the cloaks worn by other people, the more she found her cloak was constricting, heavy and weighed upon her shoulders. She dreamed of slipping out her cloak and being free.

For many years, JenMidge would roll up her cloak and hide it in her satchel and pretend that she was wearing a different cloak. While she imagined that she was dressed in the spangly glittery cloak of performer, her satchel betrayed her. It hurt and forced her to remember that she should be wearing the Responsibility Cloak.

Somedays she tired of wishing for something different. When this happened, she would submit to the cloak of Responsibility and pursue her conventional talents and abilities. She was surprised to find she was recognised for her ability to coordinate and manage many tasks at once. She became well known for her capacity to spin tops, lift weights and juggle balls. In addition, wearing the cloak of responsibility meant that JenMidge often felt compelled to do everything for everybody and she found this very tiring.

One night, JenMidge had a dream. In this dream she saw a heavenly place where people with heavy cloaks could learn to live life without burden. In the morning, she remembered her dream and decided to go in search of this land. Packing up her cloak and taking with her a satchel filled with treasures from her childhood, she went in search of this land.     

It was a tough journey. She trudged up hills in the heat, drank from cool streams in dark forests and searched and searched for this special land.

One day, she met a wise man sitting quietly by the side of the road. She asked him if he knew about this land where people with heavy cloaks could learn to live life without burden.

He looked at her with gentle eyes and a soft smile.

"I think you are looking in all the wrong places", he said. "Sit with me here and show me your cloak of Responsibility. Tell me what you see."

JenMidge sat beside the old man and unrolled her cloak from her satchel. She pointed to its heaviness, she complained about its restrictions and she cried tears of regret.

The old man asked, "Why are you only looking at the outside of your cloak, what is it like inside?"

With uncertainty, JenMidge unwrapped her cloak and lay it on the ground beside her. Tentatively opening her cloak, she saw a rainbow glowing inside, a moon and clusters of stars. Her eyes widened and she turned her cloak inside out and placed it on her shoulders. The cloak felt lighter and floated on her shoulders.

"It is still my cloak of responsibility," she cried, "but I can see both sides of me now."

"Thankyou for showing me a new way of looking at my cloak," she said to the old man.  

I wonder what cloak you were given to wear? How would you write your life as a fairytale and what does this show you about choices you have made.
I am thinking about writing my future story and considering what cloak or mantle I shall choose to wear now.

"Dream" a night photo by iPhone Nov 2011