Lately Jude has been watching Willy Wonka and I can't help but watch it with him. I'm not sure why, but the ending makes me cry every time. (Does it make you cry every time? If not, what does? Not just movies, but what in life makes you cry every time?)
Maybe because Charlie is only a wee bit older than Jude and I wish for Jude someday to be able to fly high over the sky in a real glass elevator. I wish for a world where children are revered for their purity, their love, their honesty, because, as Willy knows, only wide-eyed magical, dreamy children "can be trusted to run the chocolate factory and take care of the Oompa Loompas."
Maybe it's because the movie is ending and I hate to see it end because it is so wonderful. Or maybe it's because it's only beginning... Or maybe it has something to do with how much I love Gene Wilder, or how it takes me right back to childhood afternoons in the Valley with my best friend Laura whose parents were "in the business," so we could dream and dream big and believe in our dreams, our own big Hollywood dreams in the making...
But likely because, as Wonka says to Charlie, "Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted...... He lived happily ever after."
So... here's what let's do: Since there's no need to be dreamin' of a White Christmas, tell me what else you're dreaming for... In fact, let's go all out: What's on your dream list? Your "everything I always wanted" list?
If you got everything you ever wanted and were living your happily ever after, what would that look like?
Of course if youd' rather just write your Christmas list, that'd be great too. I'll see what I can do. :)
Remember that you are TOTALLY ANONYMOUS if you so choose.
Remember: it's only writing. If you can't dream and wish and happily-ever-after on the page, where can you?
Living Happily Ever After, is comprised of…
ReplyDelete- Simplicity
- Originality
- Intensity
- Fidelity
- Authenticity
Best, AOBT
Hi Bare Trees!!
DeleteI take it you are living happily ever after then...?
Sure hope so!
SOIFA! Love it! AOBT's SOIFA!
Simplicity: Yes, but why is this so hard to remember this time of year?
Originality: yes, works for me, though frustrates me at times, too. Hard to fit in/be understood sometimes when tooooo original!
Intensity... hmmm... aaaaaaaaaaaah.... I guess I should take it as a compliment when people tell me I am "too intense"... :)
Fidelity... where to begin?
Authenticity.... what else?
Would love to hear more from you AOBT on these... naturally.... thanks so much for sharing. Hope you are having a holly jolly holiday season... Hugs, Rox
Ha! Not quite yet living happily ever-after, but getting close! Within the SOIFA acronym (thank you for that!), SIMPLICITY has become my most treasured state. After many years of complexity, complication, and confoundedness, I have settled into this most pleasant place, which values simplicity. Simplicity of time-spent, simplicity of possession, and simplicity of planning. Believe me, it is a state worth pursuing! And, do not think that Simplicity is the polar-opposite of Intensity, they, in practice, are most interesting companions. One ounce Simplicity (+) one ounce Intensity = a fantastically wonderful paradox!
DeleteHugs back, AOBT
Hi BT's!
DeleteSo glad you're diggin the SOIFA! It sounds sort of like how some members of my Jew family might say sofa... so it endears me all the more!
Yes, I have been liberated by simplicity as well. I remember when I first moved to the Twin Cities in 2001 to do my MFA program and realized, slowly, and then took to it quite quickly, that I could live my life as an adult however I wanted to and wouldn't it be nice to not "have to" do anything "adult" if I didn't want to. Like? Oh, drama for one. No more indulging mine or anyone else's. What else? Well, I could live simply with very little money and be able to do what I love everyday of my life... like go to yoga, ride my bike, go cross-country skiing in the middle of the workday... I realized big time that I could do anything I wanted in this lifetime...it was more a matter of how that always stopped me from seeing that. What a great opening it was to live simply! What would it be like if we all lived simply, ya think?
I guess I sort of do enjoy my own intensity... most of the time it makes me laugh and—you'll like this—allows me to picture myself as though I am in my own movie... you'll never guess who I imagine playing me? .... And you? Who would play you, AOBT?
Talk soon, night-night, Rox
Not sure if yours is a rhetorical question, but I believe you imagine yourself played by Jessica Findlay, (Lady Sybil). She would best portray your appreciation for simplicity within a life lived fully and earnestly – and, with empathy for the plight of the have-nots. Correct? I, on the other hand, would be played by Rodrigo de la Serna (although I am not as young, nor Argentinean). Mischief, persistence, and error-prone, being the key traits.
DeleteAnd yes, and I enjoyed an out loud self-chortle, when I pronounced aloud for myself, “SOIFA”, in an accent such that I imagine your family using. The next napping opportunity for me, shall be atop my SOIFA! The dreams will unfold along who-knows what lines! Later – BT
Hi BTs!
DeleteHow's the SOIFA napping going? :)
Hmmm...I'm so out of the movies loop. I don't know who anyone is. Seriously. Is Jessica Findlay British? God I wish I could pull that off. I'd just talk all day and listen to myself. Forget writing. Oy, and that body! Anyway, I'll have to see where and what this earnest and simple is all about... Actually, and here I will date myself, but Jennifer Jason Leigh was who I was thinking of to play me these days...
Rodgrigo de quien?? God help me. I need to go see some movies. I'm still stuck in my childhood.
Talk soon, Rox
Ahh.., Jennifer Jason Leigh, nicely cast as you - I can truly see her as you! Jessica is British, I know her from Downton Abbey. And, Rodrigo of Motorcycle Diaries fame, an all-time fav! Happy Friday Rox, cheers! Anonymously and (still) Bare, Trees.
DeleteHappy Friday and peaceful, warm, bright holiday hoopla to you dear AOBTs! Look forward to hearing about how Rodrigo (funny: I first typed "Rodgringo"... ) brings out in you... Salud!
DeleteWhoa, your Rodgringo typo just made any Freudians in your readership squirm...! Time for me to turn the page and consider this week's Bench Prompt. Maybe I'll find some of my inner-Rodrigo and utilize that energy as I consider the Bench. Always informative (if not entertaining), to hear from you! Big snow flakes drifitng down on this lovely Sunday morning - peace, BT
DeleteI'm dreaming of...
ReplyDeletegood intense dreams while asleep because anything can happen and I can wake up.
less guns in the world, or how about none, because I have known a few people who would still be here if there were none.
the shining sun everyday.
being able to walk down the street or in the woods and not have to worry about a bad guy jumping out at you and changing your world.
rainbows, lots of rainbows.
loving myself as much as I love others, my kids, my past loves, my cats, my dad.
watching Willy Wonka (the old one) eating chocolate and candy tea cups without a care or worry in the world.
Luv to u Rox,
C.C.
and so much love to you, CC! What a lovely post... Are you CC as in my cat? Or are you CC as in my long lost french best friend neighbor I grew up with?! I love you both and whoever else you might be...
DeleteThis brings tears. I love this list! Yes, of course, the old one... "candy tea cups"? Oh dear me, please tell.
I looooove what you wrote and am so curious to hear more about what is behind these deeply expressed, so poetic, dreams... I wish for the same... for you, for me, for dads, cats, past loves, for the world... Thank you so much for writing. xoxoxo