betushka's a smart cookie
i'm reading a book called Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters; Heroines in Folktales From Around the World. (with a kitty on my lap and a cup of tea at hand. i feel very peaceful.) at the end of each tale the author, Kathleen Ragan, augments the narration with a short personal reflection. this one, after a story about a merry young shepherdess who disregards her work and dances away the afternoons with a magical maiden of the wood (and still comes out on top, garnering the wood maiden's favor with her zest for life!), made me especially happy, and i wanted to share it:
"I watch my little girls dance. They skip and march. They tumble. One spins as fast as she can, arms outstretched then falls with a plop and a laugh to the floor. When I give them scarves, they twirl them, make them float in the air, wrap them around waists, arms, ankles; one tucks the pink sequined scarf into her pants and crawls on all fours like a cat. They know how to have fun. As they grow older, we teach children what we have learned from history, novels, and the evening news - to view life as one obstacle after another. Little Red Riding Hood goes off the path to pick the lovely flowers and she is eaten by a wolf.
However, in 'The Wood Maiden,' the heroine is rewarded for going off the path. Her spinning, her duty, and her work forgotten, Betushka is rewarded for her joyful impulse to dance. Dance in the rain, dance in the sunlight, dare to expect joy in your life."
i think it was the last seven words that struck me. ...dare to expect joy in your life...
Dare to expect joy in your life!
and on that note, i think i am going to have a bath. :o)
"I watch my little girls dance. They skip and march. They tumble. One spins as fast as she can, arms outstretched then falls with a plop and a laugh to the floor. When I give them scarves, they twirl them, make them float in the air, wrap them around waists, arms, ankles; one tucks the pink sequined scarf into her pants and crawls on all fours like a cat. They know how to have fun. As they grow older, we teach children what we have learned from history, novels, and the evening news - to view life as one obstacle after another. Little Red Riding Hood goes off the path to pick the lovely flowers and she is eaten by a wolf.
However, in 'The Wood Maiden,' the heroine is rewarded for going off the path. Her spinning, her duty, and her work forgotten, Betushka is rewarded for her joyful impulse to dance. Dance in the rain, dance in the sunlight, dare to expect joy in your life."
i think it was the last seven words that struck me. ...dare to expect joy in your life...
Dare to expect joy in your life!
and on that note, i think i am going to have a bath. :o)