Heart-rejuvenating, I take in my surroundings, mesmerized by the lush trees, ripples of wildflowers, and brilliant blue sky encompassing me in what looks like Sleeping Beauty’s woods, making me feel like I live in a fairytale where fairy godmothers, kings and queens, and adventure awaits at every corner instead of the nightmarish world that has me suffocating everytime I open my phone. Speaking honestly, I can’t even remember the last time I looked at my news updates and didn’t walk away feeling depressed, enraged, or flat-out exhausted from all of the horrible happenings in our world that you can take your pick from: hellish heat waves that threaten our national parks and outdoor activities, Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine and her people, and the Taliban’s crackdown on women’s rights, the latter unable to show their faces in public or pursue an education after years of hard work, studies, and perseverance. Maybe the fact that I’ll be attending my dream school in the fall makes this last grievance cut ever more deeply, but regardless, all of it makes me shudder as I can’t help but draw parallels between our world today and the dystopian novels so popular in the twentieth century. Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and The Handmaid’s Tale – these books highlight society’s subtle problems and prejudices that could, according to the authors, snowball into catastrophic calamities if people lose their vigilance, something those of us in the United States often take for granted, such as the right to read whatever we want, wear what we want, and even to think whatever we want. Yet while we have a responsibility, both as citizens of this country and of this planet, to be aware of these issues and keep up to date on current world events, what if we also focused on the things we’re doing right? What if we paid attention to the magic of everyday life, not just the curses, for how do we know the dark spells if we don’t know the enchantments that make life worth living?
Despite the fact that my high school field has always been a safe space for me, I’ve pretty much kept to myself, never saying “hi” to anyone, slipping my headphones on, and keeping my head down, which is completely fine, of course, because most times I’m there to workout, not to socialize. However, on a recent walk with my dog out there (a great way to meet boys, by the way), I met someone who challenged that perspective, who had me talking and comfortable in my own skin and stumbling into flirting that made me feel so… alive. Happy. Blushing all the way home. Even though that conversation lasted only moments, its impact has riverbeated through my heart because in a world that loves gossip, half-truths, and over-the-top drama, I felt like a heroine in one of my favorite novels; I saw the reason why we have love songs and Disney movies and daring romances. It’s because those things actually do happen, and even though not everyone meets their partner in a fairytale-like way, the feelings of attraction, shaky-hands, and amour are there. We just can’t always see it because we move too fast, dismiss our soul’s hopes as wishful thinking, and are too afraid of getting hurt. But what would be worse – saying “no” and never knowing or saying “yes” and painting with all the colors of the wind? Therefore, may we put down our phones and say “hello” to that stranger on the street. May we take our speed down a couple of notches and stop and stand wonderstruck by a deer hiding in the brush. And may we stop worrying so much about what we post on social media and actually care about the people right in front of us and speak now, for as in every storybook ending, the couple has to say “I do” before riding away on their white horse.
Last Love 